


Press Start

by barkhyunjin



Series: LOONAVERSE [1]
Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Video Game World, F/F, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2019-10-25 12:06:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17724878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barkhyunjin/pseuds/barkhyunjin
Summary: 6 girls with 'not-so-great' lives find themselves with their hands on a mysterious game console which ends up sucking them into another world. Another world being in the game, having to conquer quests in order to win and if they die. They get lost in the files forever. Meeting 6 more girls in the game world, will the 12 be able to reunite and escape from their coded prison? Or will they be stuck forever.





	1. 00error00

* * *

* * *
    
    
    player

* * *

* * *
    
    
    please
    

* * *

* * *
    
    
    i am b€ggÏng yðù

* * *

* * *
    
    
    ~~**§avÆ M€** ~~i d0nT h@µE m*cµ t!m3
    

* * *
    
    
    ~~im fading~~ 

* * *
    
    
      ~~cant l*se h*r~~  ¶l@yer þleâ¿e ®€seT ÷he g*me
    

* * *

* * *
    
    
    ~~n*** h**~~  þ1**** ®ese*

* * *

* * *

 r****                       

* * *

* * *

###### error 201

* * *

* * *

###### system fail


	2. 1 [Heejin] Into the Rabbit Hole

A loud noise blared in the midst of her room as she hid under the covers, but then eventually reaching a hand out to turn off her alarm.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    depuis la matinée, c'est du déjà vu*  
    
    

* * *

 

Another bland and colorless day, Jeon Heejin would think to herself everyday because it truly was. She would never let her parents know though. How she was afraid to go to school everyday, hoping that people would just ignore her and let her go, but life never truly goes the way you want it to. Of course, don't get her wrong. Heejin wasn't struggling in school or even financially, she loved her parents and it was evident that they loved her just as much, but it was the people at the school. 

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    le même jour mais pourtant différent*  
    
    

* * *

 

She steps one foot onto campus and already people are whispering and snickering about her. Maybe because of how she looked. Maybe because of how she dressed. Maybe because she was a straight A student. Heejin would never truly know. She knew that this type of behavior was blossomed from jealousy or insecurity, but never understood  _why_ someone would be envious of her disgustingly colorless life. Her daily routines being the same everyday that sometimes she would forget that she was human and had a choice. 

 

 

Heejin had always wished for a world where she could do whatever she wanted, be whoever she wanted and go wherever she wanted without people stopping her. But of course, a vivid world like that would never have been possible for her. She was used to being alone. Hell, she'd probably combust if someone tried to have a genuine conversation with her rather than just using her for test answers or forcing her to do their homework for them. She rarely talked to her parents as well since they were usually busy and so was she, but other than that there really wasn't anything to talk to.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    Devrais-je me cacher? Devrais-je m'enfuir?*  
    
    

* * *

 

Her parents know how her grades are doing and she couldn't tell them what happens at school everyday, from getting shoved around to getting food thrown at her, having to make excuses every day about stains, bruises and even cuts.

 

* * *

 

_"What are those stains on your uniform sweetie?"_

 

_"Oh..I accidentally spilled some food on me."_

 

* * *

 

Heejin wasn't suicidal. She didn't want to die anytime soon. She had so much she wanted to do and so much opportunity for things to just give up there. But she also didn't want to be a nuisance to others. She wanted to live her life peacefully and let others live theirs as well. Sometimes she would think about it, maybe she wasn't meant to be here. Maybe she doesn't deserve to be here. She would wonder if people would miss her if she suddenly disappeared one day or if anyone would remember her, but she found it hopeless. If people don't remember her when she's still here, then what makes her think that people will remember her if she disappears.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    je réfléchis*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

_"Jeon Heejin....who's that?"_

 

_"I think it's glasses girl."_

 

_"Oh, whatever."_

 

* * *

 

Maybe it was just Heejin or maybe it was her gut telling her something, but she didn't want to go to school even more than usual. She felt as if something bad was bound to happen or was going to happen. She thought of several scenarios and excuses she could tell her mom, but she really didn't want to get detention so she forced herself out of bed and got ready for school.

 

Her parents were already out for work and Heejin didn't feel like eating anything so she didn't bother to make herself breakfast. Just like any other day she walked to the school, not minding any of the looks that people give her as she walks on campus and into her classroom, her teacher greeting her with a small wave which she returned.

 

* * *

 

After her first class ended, Heejin quickly put aside her gut feeling telling herself that it was just like any normal day as she walked out of her classroom to go into the bathroom, but was then stopped with a tap on her shoulder.

 

Heejin froze.

 

This wasn't how her days usually went. Something was different. Heejin regained her composure, taking in a couple breaths before turning around to see one of her classmates with a small smile on her face.

 

"U-uh yes? How can I help you?" Heejin tried her best not to sound insensitive but figured that she had failed due to the slight flinch in the taller girl.

 

"I'm not really familiar with this facility..Can you maybe show me where the storage room is? My teacher asked me to get something for him." The girl explained and Heejin nodded not wanting to be rude and deny her request.

 

 _Maybe things really can get better._ Heejin thought to herself as she led the other girl to the storage room, opening the door.

 

"Here's the storage room, is there anything else you need?" She asked once again, but this time the girl looked more nervous than before.

 

"Uh..can you maybe turn on the light for me? I-I'm scared of the dark." The girl whispered out so that only Heejin could hear and the latter complied, walking into the room and feeling around to find the switch, but once she flipped it on she heard a slam from behind as well as a click.

 

She turned around in fear as she tried to open the door, but the handle wouldn't budge. She tried slamming on the door, but all she heard were snickers on the other side of the door.

 

"Somebody help!!" Heejin shouted out, but no one cared. Realizing this Heejin felt tears sting at the corners of her eyes as she slid down the surface of the door, sitting down on the cold ground.

 

 _I'm gonna be stuck here for a while so maybe I could kill some time by looking around_ , Heejin thought to herself, also noting not to trust anyone that easily anymore. She had let her optimism cloud her judgement, she should have known why someone would ask  _her_  for help when no one has for most of her life.

 

Heejin let her eyes glance around the large storage room a few times before something caught her attention. She got herself up before carefully walking to one of the shelves containing an assortment of items from shovels to textbooks, and even packets of bread. She stuck her hand out as far as possible, reaching out for the device that took a few glances to notice before finally pulling it out along with some dust which made her cough.

 

It was a small, carrier sized game console with a game controller already attached to it. Heejin wasn't really that into games or never really played games that much because of how busy she was, but she thought since she was gonna be stuck here she might as well try it out.

 

She placed the console on the floor before sitting down and then searching for the power button on the console. After finding it she pressed down on it for a few moments, letting go when the screen flashes multiple colors alongside a logo that says 'BBC'. 

 

 _That's strange...There's already a game in it._  Heejin thought to herself before picking up the console and trying to take out the game that was lodged inside, but the game cartridge didn't even budge so the girl gave up, putting it back down and sighing. She picked up the controller, testing out the controls before pressing play on the game.

 

Heejin wasn't familiar with games, but she also found it weird that on the home screen the game didn't have a label or a name, as if it just appeared there out of nowhere, but Heejin just shrugged it off as some new kind of technology thing.

 

When the game started there was a flash of 6 different colors as well as a waning moon before the title finally showed up. The title being 'LOOΠΔVERSE'.

 

"That's an odd title....Guess they ran out of names." Heejin mumbled to herself before pressing start on the game and creating a new file. Heejin expected there to already be a file created since the console looked like it had been in there for some time, but was surprised that the game was untouched.

 

The game asked for her full name, age and birthday to which Heejin filled in without second thought before pressing enter. After the screen loaded a little, 6 icons popped up and she was asked to 'choose a story'.

 

"What do you mean choose a story? All the icons are are just colored animal silhouettes." Heejin grumbled to herself before looking through her options. 

 

There were 6 different icons, each a different color and a different animal.

 

The first icon being a yellow cat.

 

[ ](https://cdn.clipart.email/d36a021ae29401660e0c57473b7057fe_cat-silhouette-free-vector-silhouettes_566-800.svg)

 

The second icon being a pastel pink deer.

 

[ ](https://rlv.zcache.com/light_pink_deer_head_silhouette_tote_bag-r17cb7fb77e8d40629db66b8b1d654886_v9w6h_8byvr_307.jpg?rvtype=content)

The third icon being a blue fish of some sort (Heejin doesn't know that many fish ok).

 

[ ](http://www.supercoloring.com/sites/default/files/silhouettes/2015/07/betta-fish-dodger-blue-silhouette.svg)

 

The fourth icon being a purple bat.

 

[ ](http://www.supercoloring.com/sites/default/files/silhouettes/2015/05/bat-medium-slate-blue-silhouette.svg)

 

The fifth icon being a peach colored penguin.

 

And the last icon being a green butterfly.

 

Heejin was always an indecisive person so she tried to think rationally as to which icon she should choose since the game didn't specify what each icon's story was.

 

Heejin's favorite animal was a bunny so she tried to pick an animal that was similar to hers, and the cat also being a domestic animal is what made her choose the yellow cat.

 

Before Heejin could think twice she quickly pressed select on the yellow cat icon, a message popping up asking her if she was sure about her choice and once again she pressed select on yes.

 

After a small moment, the screen suddenly flashed an extremely bright yellow forcing Heejin to close her eyes due to the light hurting her eyes and before she knew it she felt as if she was falling.

 

Heejin opened her eyes to see the floor of the storage room floating away, then the walls fading into yellow. Heejin wanted to scream or just do  _anything_ , but the color was so beautiful. Maybe finally she could see how beautiful colors were.

 

After a moment of falling everything around Heejin turned black and Heejin closed her eyes due to the shock of the impact on her body. She groaned before sitting up and rubbing her back, opening her eyes once again to see an unfamiliar bedroom.

 

Heejin slowly got off of the bed that she fell on and looked around in awe, her glasses crooked on her face with her jaw practically touching the ground. Finally asking the long awaited question.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    je fouilles dans un chapeau noir*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

"Where the hell am I?"

 

 

 

 

 

a/n: 

Translations :

*Starting from the morning, it's already deja vu

*Unfamiliar but the same day

*Should I hide? Should I run away?

*I'm thinking

*I rummage through the black hat


	3. 2 [Heejin] Colorless World

_"Where the hell am I?"_

 

* * *

 

 

Heejin slowly piveted, taking in all of her surroundings as her mind tried to comprehend the fact that she was in a completely different place than before.

 

She looked down at her hands and then looked up at her surroundings again.

 

 _Did the game bring me here?_ Heejin thought to herself but shook off the idea since it wasn't possible....or was it? Heejin decided that the answer could come later so she started to walk around the room. 

 

The room looked really plain, shelves filled with books which were mostly science fiction and fantasy. A large wooden desk sat against the center of one of the walls with pencils, sheets of paper and a few small figurines. One of the figurines being a pink rabbit and the other being a yellow cat.

 

 _It's the yellow cat again..._ Heejin thought to herself before gently picking it up and inspecting it. The texture was smooth and hard with a plasticky feel, which Heejin assumed was made from a 3D printer. Heejin placed the cat back in it's original place next to the pink rabbit before noticing a hot pink sticky note on the top of the desk.

 

 _How did I not see this before?_ Heejin thought to herself before picking up the small piece of paper and reading it.

 

"Dad and I are going on a quick vacation. Be back soon! xoxo" Heejin read aloud before placing the paper back on the desk, looking around the room for the last time before exiting and walking into the surprisingly large living room.

 

 _I guess I'm the only one here huh._ Heejin thought before walking around the living room and looking around. The living room had a large flat screen TV with a large coffee brown couch in front of it, but something was off. All of the plugs in the TV were unplugged. The essentials around it were all gone and it looked as if it had been cleaned out. Heejin waved the thought away before going to inspect the kitchen and again it was the same situation. 

 

She opened the fridge hoping to find something, but not even the light inside the fridge turned on. It wasn't even cold and nothing was in the fridge. The kitchen counters were all suspiciously empty. Heejin opened the cabinets and the drawers as well and they were also empty. It was as if it was a completely new house and that's when she started having doubts.

 

"Who the hell takes their fridge on a vacation?.." Heejin spoke to herself before hearing a loud crash causing her to jump and whip her head around.

 

 

* * *

 

Maybe a part of her was telling her not to approach the sound of the crash and maybe the other part was curious. And with Heejin having nothing to lose, started walking towards the place where she heard the noise. She slowly creeped near the glass of the windows to the backyard waiting a bit to see if the crash would happen again, but was relieved to not have heard anything again.

 

Heejin was about to turn around to explore the house more but the shattering of the glass as well as loud gunshots causing her body to hit the back of the couch before she regained her balance and hid behind the couch as quick as she could. 

 

 _Why does this have to happen to me..._  Heejin groaned to herself before taking a little peer over the top of the couch and seeing large men in suits with guns as well as a woman next to them dressed in a dark blue dress, but Heejin couldn't see very well due to the fear. Surprisingly, her glasses were still intact but were just crooked on her face. 

 

Heejin tried to find a way to escape but panicked before she could do anything which led her to be manhandled by the men in uniforms. Heejin tried her best not to hyperventilate but one look into her eyes and you could tell that she was scared for her life.

 

"Search the area! Hyunjin you deal with the girl." The largest man's voice boomed and all of the others, except for the lady, scattered into the house ravaging around as Heejin stood there helplessly and scared.

 

Hyunjin grabbed the frozen girl, twisting her hands behind her back to prevent her from running or trying anything, and then bringing her near the leader. Heejin struggled in Hyunjin's grasp before getting her head forcefully turned towards the large man who looked coldly at her, looking at her up and down before one of his men came out from the inner rooms.

 

"What is it?" The leader asked, his voice scruffy. Although, Heejin noticed that the subordinate looked a bit nervous.

 

"E-Everything's cleaned out sir. Nothing was left behind, they took everything." He replied and the leader's eyebrows furrowed in frustration before kicking over the coffee table in the living room and yelling out, causing the subordinate to flinch. He then whipped his head towards Heejin and she flinched in fear and surprise.

 

Heejin knew that there was something off about the house, but she didn't expect for this to be the situation. Heejin would have probably felt worse about it if she didn't think she was dreaming or if the people that abandoned her were her real parents. But still Heejin felt bad about the situation because no one should have to go through that, and if it  _was_ a dream then might as well get the best out of it right? 

 

The leader looked at her with a cold look, probably observing her reaction to the news before realizing something from the look on Heejin's face.

 

"You didn't know did you?" The leader asked and Heejin looked down before nodding defeatedly. The man then tapped Hyunjin's shoulder telling her to let Heejin go and she obeyed. 

 

Heejin's gaze was stuck to the ground since she was too afraid to look into the eyes of the leader. She hears the sigh of the man before looking at him.

 

"It's no use then. You're gonna have to come with us. We might have some use for you since it seems like your parents abandoned you here. Hyunjin you're in charge of taking care of her. She will also be sleeping in your room since you're the only girl here. You can call me V, short for Villain." V explained turning his back to Heejin before speaking more quietly.

 

"No one deserves to be left behind." Heejin hears him say which is odd for someone who just broke into her house to say but Heejin shrugged it off.

 

Hyunjin bowed before grabbing Heejin and leading her into the car along with V, the rest of the henchmen going on separate cars.

 

* * *

 

 

Heejin felt awkward. Just a few moments ago she was locked in a storage room in her own world and a second later she gets transported into some other world where she's basically being held captive by some dudes and a hot girl.  Speaking of that hot girl, Heejin was really tempted to look at her in the car since she sat right next to her but didn't want to seem like a creep so she used the front mirror to her advantage like any person would.

 

The more Heejin looked at the girl the more she would notice about her. For example her sharp jawline, or her slightly pouted lips or her very fit body. Heejin was still staring at the girl, but then jumped a little at the fact that the girl's reflection stared back at her. She then heard the girl clear her throat next to her and Heejin's face flushed red. Heejin glanced at the girl next to her only to see her leaning closer to her which made Heejin panic a little.

 

"You know I can see you staring at me right?" Hyunjin whispered to her so that only she could hear and it made Heejin's ears go red.

 

After that little talk, Heejin didn't try to look at Hyunjin anymore, she stayed quiet the rest of the ride with her head down in embarrassment while Hyunjin smirked in triumph.

 

When both vans made it to their hideout, Heejin finally lifted her head up to see the house. 

 

It was an extremely large house, only a little bit smaller than a mansion. It included both a hot spring and a pool in one as well as a diving board. There were three visible stories, the top layer with a veranda and the second layer made of glass so you could see through it, and the last layer looking like any generic house.

 

They parked the cars on the lot near the house before letting the people out one by one, Heejin being guided by Hyunjin with her hand on her arm.

 

 _What did I ever do to deserve this? Can't I just live my life in peace?_  Heejin thought to herself as she groaned internally. She felt the bruises from the past days bullying ache as Hyunjin grasped it firmly making her hiss in pain a little making Hyunjin turn her head to her and loosen her grip.

 

When they approached the door to the house, a maid opened the door for them and some other maids could be seen inside tidying up the house. All of the other subordinates shuffled inside while Hyunjin, Heejin and V stood outside for a little.

 

"Hyunjin. Show the girl to your room. I will write down things for you to teach her. And you..." V paused before Heejin realized that she never introduced herself.

 

"Heejin! Jeon Heejin."

 

"Yes, Heejin. You will be under Kim Hyunjin's care. She will be responsible to keep you in check or else... let's just say there will be consequences." V explained causing Heejin to shudder a little in fear, she turned her head to look at Hyunjin's expression, but it was the same as V's. Hard and cold.

 

"Yes sir..." Hyunjin replied with a soft voice. Heejin thought that Hyunjin's voice was soft only because she was whispering to her earlier, but even her normal voice sounded so soft and delicate, it made Heejin wonder about her.

 

* * *

 
    
    
      
    
    même si j'ai l'air froide, je veux être différente*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

_Who are you really, Kim Hyunjin?_

 

 

 

 

 

 

a/n:

Translatiion:

*Even if i seem cold, so i can look different

Please excuse my mistranslations, I'm using Google translate lmao

 


	4. 3 [Heejin] Around You

* * *

 

Heejin's alarm went off, and with her still being tired she didn't notice that the ringing sounded different. She tried to reach for the clock but was met with nothing to deactivate.

 

After another minute of groaning, Heejin finally pulled back the sheets and blink her eyes open slowly, trying to get used to the bright lights.She looked around to realize that the room around her wasn't the colorless one back in the real world, or whatever world it was. Heejin honestly didn't know where she was, but if it was a dream she should be back in her room by now right?...

 

She didn't care enough to complain. This world seemed a lot more interesting and honestly Heejin needed the distraction, although the first impression seemed dangerous she was kind of excited to see what would happen.

 

After deciding that the lights were too bright, Heejin covered herself with the covers again, groaning even louder than before before hearing someone sigh.

 

"You know I really had faith that you would wake up to the alarm.' Heejin recognized that beautiful soft voice anywhere, before feeling the coldness of the air around her as she realized the owner of that soft voice just removed her blankets.

 

Heejin squirmed around, her eyes closed shut before sighing and finally sitting up. She was still tired from the lack of sleep and usually when Heejin was tired she never really thought before she spoke, which wasn't always the best situation.

 

"You know.." Heejin slurred as she got up before yawning.

 

"I thought all of this was a dream." She admits before looking around the room and searching for the bathroom. Hyunjin senses her distress and points to the closed door near one of the glass tables before raising an eyebrow.

 

"Is that so? And why is that?" Hyunjin asks with a soft voice before Heejin realizes what she just said.

 

 _Shit shit shit...Just play it off Heejin,_ She thought to herself, her eyes wandering around as she thought of a reasonable explanation.

 

"Cause...um..it just seems so sudden and really out there you know? I wake up one day to my parents leaving me and also getting taken away by a gang, not my everyday routine you know?" Heejin silently congratulates herself for making up a plausible excuse so quickly before internally relaxing. But what Heejin didn't know what that Hyunjin was professionally trained to observe body language and tell whether someone is hiding something or lying and Heejin's body language was telling her that Heejin was hiding something. Hyunjin decided to let it go at the moment and would get it out of her later when she earns her trust.

 

* * *

 

Heejin took her time in the bathroom. Combing her hair over a thousand times, washing her face about five times and brushing her teeth ten times, the reason may or may not be because she wanted to impress someone, but then again how can someone as boring as her impress someone like Hyunjin?

 

The taller girl would rarely talk to her, only when necessary or when she was curious about her. Heejin decided that she would try to start a conversation with the taller girl.

 

After a long time in the bathroom, Heejin finally stepped out in fresh clothes with parts of her hair tied back and her signature glasses rested gently on the bridge of her nose. She remembered that V told Hyunjin to train her today and Heejin was a bit excited and nervous at the same time for the training. She honestly didn't know what to expect, but from their first impression she's guessing that it has something to do with either weapons or just fighting in general. Don't get her wrong. Heejin thinks all that stuff is really cool, but there isn't one single muscle on her body. Heejin did like to dance and sing, she even secretly wanted to be an idol, but she couldn't trust anyone with that information since they would probably just laugh at her. 

 

No one has heard or seen Heejin dance and sing before, since she focused on her studies more for a 'real' job that was actually obtainable, so Heejin was literally made out of sticks.

 

When Heejin got out of the bathroom, she found Hyunjin sitting on the edge of the bed with her eyes closed waiting for her which made Heejin smile a little. She thought it would be a good idea to sneak up to the taller girl and poke her, but felt a tight grip around her wrist before she could make contact. Hyunjin's eyes shot open as she twisted Heejin's arm back, which the latter hissed in pain, before Hyunjin realized it was Heejin and let go of her wrist.

 

"Sorry...Reflex." Hyunjin explained as she looked away feeling kind of bad since she saw the previous bruises and wounds on the girls arms. Heejin shook her head with a smile showing that she was perfectly fine, shaking her arms as proof but flinched instead when she felt pain again.

 

Hyunjin patted the space next to her, telling Heejin to sit next to her and which the latter obeys. The taller girl gently grabs the smaller girl's arm and inspects it before furrowing her eyebrows.

 

"What are these injuries from..?" Hyunjin asked carefully but she saw Heejin's face tense up and look away.

 

"It's just...It's nothing really. Don't worry about it." Heejin forced a smile while Hyunjin decided not to push further and just wait for the girl to open up to her. She decided to talk to her so that the air would be more comfortable.

 

"Um..How old are you?" The quieter girl asks carefully and Heejin looked at her in surprise, not expecting the girl to talk to her.

 

"I'm 18! My birthday is October 19, 2000." Heejin replied enthusiastically before waiting for Hyunjin's reply.

 

"Oh. Our birthdays are actually pretty close. Mine is November 15, 2000. I'm also 18." Hyunjin was surprised that the smaller girl was older than her by a month since if you were a stranger you would think that Hyunjin was older either based on appearance or how they acted.

 

"Eh?? I'm older than you? That's so surprising!" Heejin smiled as she shot off of the bed in surprise which made Hyunjin smile lightly before going back to her neutral face. Hyunjin was taught not to show much emotion, it was a sign of weakness and that the enemy could read off of it and know what you're thinking. But Hyunjin needed to remind herself that her mother wasn't there anymore and she was safe.

 

Hyunjin's face turned cold as she stared into space and it confused Heejin so she decided to gently tap the taller girl's shoulder who looked at her with a terrified look on her face before realizing it was just Heejin and reverting back.

 

"Sorry...lost in thought.." The taller girl vaguely explained and Heejin decided not to push it. 

 

Hyunjin stood up, before walking towards the door and then waiting for Heejin, not looking back at her.

 

"We should catch up with the others. They're probably already training.." Hyunjin spoke softly as she stood there and heejin got the memo, standing up and jogging over to Hyunjin's side before the two of them start walking to the house's backyard. 

 

Heejin was new to the house so Hyunjin had to lead her. Walking past expensive looking paintings, as well as sculptures and even some antiques that were hung on the wall which made Heejin wonder how they got all of this or at least the money to pay for all of this. She knew she would find out later on, but in the hard way or at least, that's what she assumed.

 

* * *

 

When the two of them finally made it through the maze of a house and into the backyard, they saw V standing there already observing the other men who were practicing with dummies and some with each other. It was like something out of a movie, but instead with Heejin as the main character. It reminded her of scenes of  _The Hunger Games_  which she was forced to watch at school since her English teacher wanted everyone to see the 'masterpiece'.

 

V finally noticed them when they got closer, giving the two girls a nod as a greeting before pointing to an empty space in the backyard.

 

"Hyunjin, you're going to be training Heejin with hand to hand combat first. After you think she's good enough then we can move onto using weapons." V explained before setting his arm down and crossing them again.

 

Now that Heejin thinks about it, V was an incredibly mysterious figure. He had fully silver hair, a tall figure which was not too lean and not too skinny, he also had a black eyepatch on one of his eyes, but around it you could see remnants of a scar.

 

Heejin was extremely curious about him but decided it would be rude to go up to him and ask him 'what happened to your face'. You would think that him being the leader of a gang, that when he found Heejin that night would have just killed her on the spot then and there, but instead he took her in which was strange.

 

Hyunjin started walking to the empty space, which Heejin assumed was reserved just for them, and Heejin followed along. Some of the men that were training sneered at her and snickered to themselves but immediately stopped when Hyunjin whipped her head back. Hyunjin looked around the empty lot before looking at Heejin.

 

"Stay right here please...I need to get something." Hyunjin said which Heejin nodded to before rushing off into the building again with V with her leaving Heejin standing there by herself. 

 

Heejin was looking around the area in curiosity before she was met with one of the men that were training in front of her with his arms crossed and a sneer on his face.

 

"Um..do you need anyt-"

 

"What makes you think you can just barge in here like you own the place huh?" The man interrupted before pushing her back causing her balance to falter a little.

 

"I-I don't-"

 

"Just shut the fuck up." This time he didn't just push her back. He pulled his fist back and punched her left cheek causing her to fall on the ground and gasp.

 

 _Ah. Right. I forgot. I don't belong anywhere. I thought this world would be any different than the one before, but I guess in any universe...I'm just as useless.._  Heejin thought to herself as she looked up to see the bottom of the guy's shoe, she closed her eyes hard and waited for the pain to come. 

 

But it never did.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    Un monde sans couleur est ennuyeux*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

Heejin looked up confusedly only to see Hyunjin standing in front of her and the man that assaulted her on the ground with a bloody nose being dragged away by V.

 

Heejin looked at her in awe, trying to find the words as she felt tears sting in her eyes. No one has ever helped her before, not even people she once thought were her friends. 

 

"I- Why-" Heejin stuttered but was met with Hyunjin crouching and sticking her hand out to help her up. 

 

"You talk too much." Hyunjin spoke softly with a small smile on her face as Heejin took her hand. At that moment, Heejin felt sparks.

* * *
    
    
      
    
    Vas-tu le change avec tes doigts?*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

Maybe this world wouldn't be so bad afterall. Maybe this world  _is_  better than the one before.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    Je veux pas me sentir engourdi*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

Or maybe it was just  _her_  that made everything better.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    Remplis moi avec plusieurs couleurs, rouge, orange, jaune, vert*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

a/n:

Translations in order from top to bottom:

*A colorless world is boring

*Will you change it with your fingers?

*I don't want to get numb

*Fill me with many colors, red, orange, yellow, green


	5. 4 [Heejin] Color Me

* * *

 

How did Heejin find herself getting pounced at by a tall, and not to mention hot, girl in an empty lot? 

 

Simple really. All she had to do was get locked in a storage room, find a mysterious possibly haunted game, and get sucked into the game. Easy peasy.

 

But Hyunjin was making Heejin run around like a rabbit being chased by a cat and she didn't know if she could hold out any longer. The sun was beaming down on the two of them, Heejin sweating like a wet dog while Hyunjin was barely sweating which Heejin thought was unfair for someone to be so perfect. 

 

Heejin was panting heavily as she moved to the side to avoid Hyunjin's next attack but stumbled a little before finding herself falling back. She closed her eyes instinctively as she waited for the impact, but felt arms hold her up and no pain. She slowly opened her eyes and realized that her glasses had fallen when she almost fell, but she could still see how beautiful Hyunjin was up close.

 

* * *

 

Realizing how close she was to Hyunjin, Heejin immediately froze and panicked internally before seeing Hyunjin smirk and hold her back up, before bending down to pick up Heejin's glasses and hand them to her.

 

"You look prettier without your glasses." Hyunjin spoke softly with a small smile directed toward the panicking girl whose face was now even more red from embarrassment as well as the heat.

 

"T-thank you.." Heejin stuttered before taking her glasses and putting them back on, but not without stumbling again which Hyunjin quickly held onto her arm to support her. The taller girl's face was now filled with worry as her eyes inspected the shorter girl to look for injuries.

 

"Are you ok? You should rest a little, I'm sorry if I was too hard on you for your first time. You must not be used to this." Hyunjin questioned before gently sitting down and pulling Heejin down with her who breathed heavily and closed her eyes to calm herself and even her breathing.

 

"Y-yeah. I'm not much of a physical person. I'm more of a studying kind of girl." Heejin explained which Hyunjin nodded to in understanding.

 

Hyunjin's eyes drifted to the older girl's arms again when her sleeves raised a little to show the bruises and cuts all over them and Heejin noticed. She pursed her lips before pulling her sleeve down over them more and sighing.

 

"This might be weird...But I feel like I can trust you, you know? Like I've known you for hundreds of years already." Heejin rambled and Hyunjin nodded while making eye contact with the shorter girl to show that she was listening and to give Heejin the spotlight.

 

"You might be wondering where I got all these injuries...Well you see I don't really have any...friends. Actually, no one likes me. I'm bullied everyday, shoved into lockers, locked in storage rooms, heck, that's where I was before I came here." Heejin elaborated and Hyunjin furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't understand why someone as lovely and gorgeous as Heejin had to go through that stuff. If she was there, she would beat all of them up if they as much as look at her wrong.

 

"I was so tired of it. I wanted it to go away. I didn't do anything wrong, I never did. My parents couldn't even tell that I was scared to go to school, and I was alone..." Heejin continued before feeling streams of tears go down her cheek as she gasped and tried to wipe them away with her sleeve, but Hyunjin stopped her by grabbing her wrist gently.

 

Hyunjin used her own sleeve to wipe away the older girl's tears before hugging her gently.

 

"You're not alone anymore. No one should have to go through that. I'll be there for you." Hyunjin spoke a bit louder than usual so that Heejin could hear her and she felt the smaller girl snuggle closer into her. Hyunjin stopped breathing for a moment before feeling heat in her cheeks and her heat beating faster than usual.

 

 _What is this feeling?_  Hyunjin thought to herself before shaking off the thought.

 

* * *

 

 _"You don't deserve love Hyunjin."_ Hyunjin froze. She thought she got rid of every memory she had of  _him._

 

* * *

 

 _"No one will love you."_  She heard the voice whisper again and she held her ears which made Heejin pull back and look at her with concern. Heejin gently rested her hand on Hyunjin's shoulder which made the younger girl gasp.

 

* * *

 

_"Worthless chi-"_

 

* * *

 

"Are you ok Hyunjin?" Heejin asked carefully, not knowing that she interrupted the voice in Hyunjin's head. The taller girl looked up at her while panting slightly and nodding.

 

 _That was strange...Usually when that happens, no one is able to get me out that quickly, not even interrupt him._ Hyunjin thought to herself before closing her eyes and calming herself down, she felt Heejin's hand clasp around her own and she opened her eyes to look at the shorter girl who smiled gently at her.

 

Hyunjin was surprised, her mouth gaping slightly as she looked into the smaller girl's eyes. She doesn't remember a time where anyone has smiled at her like that. She quickly got up and held her hand out to Heejin before pulling her up as well, noticing that they have been practicing for the entire day and it was already night time.

 

"We should go in and rest..You must be tired." Hyunjin spoke with a soft voice again, leading the girl inside before she could protest and into their room. Heejin was still slightly worried about the younger girl but decided that it probably wasn't the best time to talk about it. The two of them got ready for bed with no words exchanged between them, but when the lights were off, Heejin mustered up all her courage.

 

"Thank you...for today and goodnight Hyunjin." She spoke softly before hearing bed sheets rustling.

 

"Goodnight Heejin...unnie." Hyunjin mumbled before closing her eyes and letting the fatigue take her.

 

* * *

 

_[Caution : Trigger warning]_

 

* * *

 

Hyunjin's eyes shot open as she looked around to see her younger self sitting on a chair at a table with a man standing over her, she immediately cringed at the memory.

 

 _"You worthless thing. We should have just gotten you aborted, maybe then your mother would still be alive."_ The man said before taking a swig of whiskey and slamming it on the table in front of her younger self, causing both Hyunjins to flinch.

 

 _"At least prove yourself to be of some worth, kid."_ The man spat out before reaching into his pockets and pulling out a small blade and tossing it to the younger Hyunjin who was silently crying.

 

 _"S-sir please don't.."_ Her younger self pleaded but was met with a slap to the face.

 

" _Do it, you worthless piece of shit."_ The man commanded while grabbing the younger Hyunjin's throat and the younger Hyunjin frantically held the blade. The man seeing her hold the blade caused him to pull back his hand to take another swig of alcohol and grin like the cheshire cat.

 

Hyunjin looked away from the scene to stare at the pitch black as she heard the blade slicing her wrists and the man snicker as he watched. She heard her own sobs and whimpers of pain as she held her ears not wanting to remember.

 

 _"Make them nice and deep so that you will always remember that you. Do. Not. Deserve. To. Be. Loved."_ She heard the voice right next to her ear as she screamed out.

 

* * *

 

_[Trigger Warning End]_

 

* * *

 

Hyunjin sat up quickly on her bed as she breathed heavily, hugging the sheets close to her as she sobbed quietly, but Heejin still heard.

 

Heejin immediately got out of her bed and into Hyunjin's to hug her like she did before.

 

"Shh...It's ok..You're safe now..." Heejin spoke softly as she rubbed small circles on the younger girl's back, letting Hyunjin sob against her before slowly calming down and opening her eyes to look at Heejin in the dark.

 

"I-I'm sorry for waking you up..." Hyunjin apologized but felt a finger on her lips as she looked at Heejin who had a stern look on her face.

 

"Don't. I'm literally a bed over, if you need anything just let me know ok? I'll be there for you." Heejin spoke softly while smiling and for some reason, it calmed Hyunjin's heart. And just as Heejin was about to get up, Hyunjin held onto her sleeve causing the smaller girl to look at her in confusion.

 

"I...Um.." Hyunjin stuttered before closing her eyes and taking in a breath to muster up the courage.

 

"Can you maybe...Sleep with me tonight? I-it's ok if you're not comfortable, I don't want to make you do anything you're not comfortable with but like-"

 

"Yes, Hyunjin. I'll sleep with you if you want me to." Heejin interrupted before the taller girl could ramble on and the latter nodded shyly.

 

Heejin climbed into the bedsheets with the taller girl, letting the latter rest her head against her chest hoping Hyunjin couldn't hear how fast her heart was beating being next to her. But what Heejin didn't know was that Hyunjin felt the same.

* * *
    
    
      
    ねー私の心知ってる？*  
      
    

* * *

 

The two girls fell asleep together peacefully, and Hyunjin found herself not having anymore nightmares for the rest of the night.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    私はあなたに必要な全てになります*  
      
    

* * *

 

God, Heejin really was different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

a/n:  
Sorry for the delay and the short chapter, been really busy with sports and stuff, BUT I am still alive don't worry. I will update to the best of my abilities, but for the mean time, barkhyunjin OUT  
Translations:  
*Hey you, do you know my heart?  
*I'll be everything you need 


	6. 1 [Yeojin] Run Away

* * *

 

Usually when people experience death, it's from someone or something.

 

For Im Yeojin, it was the death of her innocence.

 

* * *

 

It was another typical day for Yeojin. 

 

Bowls, plates and glasses crashing on the floor along with the sounds of her parents screaming at one another, occassionally getting louder with a smack or a shove.

 

Yeojin locked herself into her room like usual, not bothering to eat or drink. Just curled up with her legs tucked against her and her hands covering her ears hoping that eventually the noise would stop.

 

But of course.

 

It never did.

 

Many restless nights passed from all of the arguing and fighting until one day, Yeojin just couldn't take it anymore. 

 

She decided that tonight she would run away from home and live at the school for a little while before calling her sister Haseul to pick her up and let her live with her.

 

Her sister, Jo Haseul, or well, half-sister, was a college student who lived at the dorms and was Yeojin's only safe place.

 

* * *

 

Home had been a scary place ever since Haseul left for college. 

At first Yeojin's parents fought a little about Yeojin's future.

 

But then it got worse.

 

From hushed yelling to full on screaming about how we were running out of money since Yeojin's father kept spending it all on alcohol and her mother spending it on clothes. The two of them accused each other, pinning the blame on each other and completely forgetting about the innocence of Yeojin and just her in general.

 

Yeojin's mind was filled with thoughts that the normal 16 year old shouldn't have, and to make it worse, no one comforted her.

 

* * *

 

Yeojin has tried to talk to her parents before, but it only made matters worse.

 

Annoyed at the child interrupting their feud, they started pinning the blame onto Yeojin. Telling her that the reason why they were going broke was because they have to pay her school expenses, outside classes, feed her, clothe her, and etc.

 

Yeojin then understood that she didn't matter anymore in that household. That it wouldn't matter if she were here or not.

 

Before when she thought of running away, she thought she would feel immense guilt from leaving her family and that they would be worried. 

 

But she realized her parents wouldn't miss her anyways.

 

* * *

 

It was around 10 PM when Yeojin started packing up her bag. Stuffing as many essentials as she could into it. Putting in her toothbrush, toothpaste, phone, charger, some pocket money that she earned a long time ago from volunteering work, some spare clothes and a blanket.

 

Their house was just a regular old one level house so Yeojin wouldn't have any difficulty sneaking out of the window and to her school.

 

Yeojin didn't have many friends at school. She didn't want any.

 

She knows that all they will do is disappoint her like her parents did, and then leave her for dead. 

 

The only person she has in this world is Haseul.

 

* * *

 

Yeojin unlocked her window before pushing it open and then grabbing her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she climbed outside.

 

Once she was on steady ground, she closed her window which did nothing to null the sound of her parents banging on the tables.

 

She ran as fast as she could to her school, not feeling the light droplets of rain turn into a harsh storm.

 

All she felt was the adrenaline, the thought of finally being able to sleep, finally being able to hear her own thoughts, and finally being able to see Haseul again.

 

* * *

 

Once she made it to her school, her entire body was all soaking wet. 

 

Her school was always available for everyone to roam around in since everyone wanted to practice sports or music.

 

Yeojin wandered around the school facilities searching for a good place to rest where no one can find her or see her until the next day.

 

That was until she passed by the storage room.

 

For some odd reason, she was incredibly drawn to go inside. 

 

So trusting her instincts, she decides to set up camp in the storage room, placing down her bag on the floor before pulling out her blanket to cover her shivering body as she sat down.

 

 _Wait a minute...This wasn't here before,_ Yeojin thought to herself as she suddenly sees a game console in front of her.

 

Yeojin being a semi-video game fan realized that the game console was a pretty old version compared to the ones that were out now.

 

 _Eh, why not. It's not like anyone's gonna come in any time soon. I'll just play for a little bit._  Yeojin thought to herself as she picked up the controller and the screen immediately lit up, causing Yeojin to jump a little in surprise.

 

"Huh...It seems like someone has already been here..." Yeojin spoke out quietly to herself as she tested out the controls and noticed that on the home screen, it says 'last played: 5 days ago'.

 

 _5 days ago huh? That's odd. Why would someone play it and then leave it here for 5 days. The game has no title either._  Yeojin thought to herself, not being able to think of an answer she decided to start the game, making the screen flash a bright white light.

 

When the game started there was a flash of 6 different colors as well as a waning moon before the title finally showed up. The title being 'LOOΠΔVERSE'.

 

 _That's a pretty original name for a game._  Yeojin thought to herself before getting slightly impatient at how long it was taking for the home screen of the game to load, but then finally being relieved when it does load in.

 

Yeojin realized that there was already a file made, and Yeojin being a curious 16 year old decided to start that file.

 

Instead of the game going into the person's file. It asked Yeojin for her full name, age and birthday which Yeojin thought was odd to have to fill in, but since she had nothing better to do, she did it anyways. After finishing filling out her personal information, she pressed enter and the screen then changed to a different one with 6 different icons, and a label saying 'choose a story'.

 

"What the heck do you mean choose a story. You don't even tell me what the stories are!" Yeojin frustratedly huffs out as she scrolls through each one. 

 

The first one being a yellow cat.

The second icon being a pastel pink deer.

The third icon being a blue beta fish.

The fourth being a purple colored bat.

The fifth icon being many penguins with a peach background.

And the last icon being a green butterfly.

 

Yeojin being an animal lover, wanted to choose the yellow cat, but when she tried to select it a message showed saying:

 

'Someone is already playing this story.' 

 

 _Huh, that's odd._  Yeojin thought to herself once again before going down to the second option, the pastel pink deer.

 

Yeojin tried to select that story as well, but another message popped up on screen saying:

 

'You are not old enough to choose this story.'

 

"Uh, wtf? This game has age restrictions? 0 stars on Yelp for me." Yeojin grumbled to herself before trying to select the third option, the blue beta fish, but the same message popped up again, causing the girl to groan out.

 

"This one better work." Yeojin said frustrated at the game as she selected the fourth option, the purple bat, and another message popped up saying:

 

'Are you sure you want to choose this story?'

 

Yeojin selected the yes option, before she was met with a blinding purple light coming from the game screen causing her to yelp and close her eyes, trying to shield them with her hands.

 

She couldn't see anything, but all she could feel was as if she was flying. A gush of wind flowing through her entire body and she felt as if she were as light as a feather.

 

When the bright light stopped, Yeojin slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times before seeing that she was still in the air and then dropping down on a pile of garbage bags as she groans out in pain, getting up as quickly as possible.

 

Yeojin looks around at where she is and one thing she knows for sure is that she does not know where the heck she is.

 

Yeojin tried to pinch her elbow to see if this was just a dream, but all she felt was a sharp pain and nothing changed. She looked down at her hands again before looking back up at the night sky which was a weird shade of purple.

 

 

_Just what is this place?_


	7. 2 [Yeojin] Superhero

* * *

 

_Just what is this place?_

 

* * *

 

Yeojin breathed out, the air fogging up with her breath as she took in every little detail.

 

The old, cramped and suspicious looking alleyway which she arrived in. The purple hued night sky which was riddled with stars so bright Yeojin thought they were lights. The dead silence of the night.

 

Huh.

 

The dead silence of the night.

 

 _That seems odd. There's never silence at any time, there's always some crazy people driving around super early in the morning_ , Yeojin thought to herself before gathering to courage to explore the alleyway further.

 

She walked and walked but not before hearing voices in the distance, two of which sounded like men who were demanding something and the other voice being one of a scared woman. Which Yeojin assumed at least from her sense of hearing.

 

She dared to step closer to hear more clearly what was happening, her hand brushing against the browning brick walls as she made careful and calculated steps.

 

"Give us all of your belongings bitch." Yeojin heard one man growl out and the other snicker which made Yeojin immediately realize what was happening.

 

The lady was being mugged.

 

"Wait please...Just leave me alone. I don't have any valuables...I have three kids and I'm barely making any money...My husband passed away a while ago and our family is barely surviving...Please just let me go." Yeojin heard the woman plead and her heart sunk.

 

This was a mother.

 

Not just any mother.

 

A caring one.

 

One that was giving her all to protect her children. 

 

One that was giving all her time to work just so that her kids could go to school and eat.

 

Hearing enough of the conversation, Yeojin trusted her gut and ran into the closed off area where the two men and the lady were.

 

"Yo bitches! Get your filthy asses away from her! How can you be so disgusting to someone who's barely struggling to survive??" Yeojin lashed out at the two men who turned their heads back to look at her with surprise which then turned to a sneer.

 

The woman looked at her as well, but with a look of worry since Yeojin was pretty small for her age.

 

"Hah, and what are you gonna do about it kid? Whine to your mommy and daddy?" One of the men mocked Yeojin as the other snickered. Yeojin made eye contact with the lady signaling for her to escape which she gladly took the opportunity, bowing to the younger girl as a sign of gratitude.

 

"Yeah, I might look small, but I'm a nationally ranked Jujitsuist." Yeojin said as she mustered the meanest face that she could and got into the most intimidating pose that she could but just caused one of the men to laugh and the other to groan in frustration.

 

"Look kid. We don't want to hurt you. Just hand over your belongings and no one gets hurt 'kay?" The man said as he slowly approached Yeojin, but she was having none of that.

 

Yeojin gave the man a roundhouse kick to the face which made the man stagger back into his friend and hold his nose which was now bleeding.

 

"I wasn't joking when I said I was nationally ranked." Yeojin warned again, but the man huffed in frustration, pulling out a switchblade from his pocket before smirking at Yeojin who froze slightly.

 

"Not so cheeky now, are ya? Might have to roughen you up a little." The man said as he continued to approach Yeojin, but this time the girl backed up into a wall.

 

If it was any other weapon, Yeojin would have had no problem kicking it out of the man's grasp, but it was this particular knife that brought back buried memories.

 

Images of bloodstains on the floor along with a knife flashed through her mind as she held her head in fear and pain.

 

The man raised his knife, about to stab Yeojin as the girl curled up into a ball on the ground and hyperventilated, waiting for the incoming pain.

 

She waited and waited, yet nothing came.

 

* * *

 

Yeojin looked up to see a girl with flowing majestic purple hair grabbing the man's arm, stopping him from making contact with Yeojin.

 

The man tried to pull his arm back but the girl didn't let him budge. Slowly he started to panic, his friend being scared ran away like a coward.

 

"H-Hey! You're gonna leave me here?! Fine! Be that way, I'll take everything for myself!" He yelled out at his friend but then screamed out in pain as the girl twisted his arm back before kicking him to one of the walls, knocking him out.

 

Yeojin was shaking with fear before she hid her face with her arms.

 

"P-please don't hurt me.." She curled further against herself in fear, but was met with a soft hand on the top of her head, ruffling her hair.

 

Yeojin poked her head out in confusion as she dared to look up at the girl which left her breathless.

 

The girl had a mask on which only covered her nose and the areas around her eyes, but even with a mask on Yeojin could tell she was absolutely gorgeous. The girl's eyes a beautiful shade of brown, but when Yeojin looked closer she noticed that one of the girl's iris was purple on the outer rim.

 

"You don't have to be afraid anymore." Yeojin shuddered as she heard the girl's voice.  _God,_ Yeojin thought she looked gorgeous, but not only that, she sounded like an angel.

 

Her mind processed the words the girl had said and maybe she was referring to the situation that happened earlier with the man trying to stab her, but it felt as if it was deeper than that.

 

Like the girl was trying to tell her that she didn't have to be afraid of  _anything_  anymore. The constant fighting of her parents, the banging on her door, the sound of glass shattering. None of it.

 

The girl crouched down near Yeojin, her hand sliding down to caress her cheek softly and Yeojin never felt so  _loved_  so cared for, and all by a pretty stranger.

 

"I....Why...Who are you?.." Yeojin struggled to speak out but the girl just smiled softly at her before standing back up and holding her hand out.

 

"You can call me Choerry. Can you stand?" The girl answered vaguely as Yeojin's gaze was still on the taller girl and Yeojin nodded softly, reaching her hand out to grasp onto Choerry's as the latter pulled her up into her embrace.

 

"You must be cold. My place is near here, let's get you there first and then I'll take you back to your home ok?" Choerry suggested as she wrapped part of her dark purple cape around Yeojin which the smaller girl found comforting and nodded.

 

* * *

 

After the mysterious girl had led Yeojin into an apartment building by climbing up some ladders and crawling in through the window, Choerry let Yeojin stay the night.

 

Yeojin of course had millions of questions to ask and some of which she didn't know if the girl could actually answer.

 

Choerry had taken her mask and cape off, leaving her in a beautiful, stainless white blouse and black tights. It was quite cold at the time so Choerry decided to make some hot chocolate for the younger girl before sitting opposite from each other, the taller girl smiling at Yeojin kindly.

 

"So, do you have any questions you want to ask?" Choerry suggested which Yeojin took a sip of the hot chocolate before nodding.

 

 _This hot chocolate is actually the best I've ever had, it's not too sweet and not too bitter._  Yeojin thought to herself, before mentally making note to thank the taller girl later on.

 

"I um..Where am I?" Yeojin asked out what came first to mind and Choerry honestly didn't expect that question.

 

"Uh, what do you mean, 'Where am I?' You're in Korea obviously!" The girl chuckled slightly before seeing the shorter girl's worried face.

 

"But...What city..?"

 

"We're in Jeju silly! How do you not know what city we're in?" Choerry curiously asked but Yeojin kept quiet, thoughts running through her mind

 

"Are you not from here?" The taller girl asked again, intrigued by the smaller girl as she sipped her own cup of hot chocolate. Choerry was never that fond of coffee anyways so she always made hot chocolate instead.

 

"I guess you could say that." Yeojin snorted before taking another sip which caused her to yelp when the drink seared her tongue.

 

Another awkward silence happened between the two of them, but Choerry quickly broke it since she was uncomfortable with silence.

 

"Where is your house? I'm going to have to drop you off later. We wouldn't want your parents to worry." Choerry asked carefully, observing the smaller girl and seeing her flinch.

 

"I...Doubt they would.." Yeojin mumbled quietly, but Choerry heard it loud and clear.

 

_Oh._

 

 _Maybe that wasn't the best question to ask._  Choerry thought to herself, before quickly trying to change the subject.

 

"Then, what school do you go to? How old are you? What's your name? When's your birthday? Do you have any pets?" Choerry asked all in one breath, desperately trying to change the subject to not make the shorter girl uncomfortable and Yeojin recognized it, causing her to chuckle lightly.

 

"Slow down, we've got all day. Um, I'll answer all your questions in order. I don't know. I'm currently 16, my name is Im Yeojin. My birthday is November 11th, 2002 and I have a pet snail." Yeojin smiled softly at the taller girl before finishing her drink and then placed the empty mug on a nearby desk.

 

"Oh! That means I'm older than you! You have to call me unnie then. Choerry is my codename, but my real name is Choi Yerim which now only you know. I'm 17 and my birthday is June 4th, 2001." Yerim replied before processing a vital piece of information.

 

"Wait...What do you mean you don't know what school you go to?" Yerim asked again, but this time with confusion. How could someone not know what school they go to, along with what city or place they were in.

 

"I," Yeojin started, trying to find the words and contemplating whether she should tell the taller girl or not. She didn't know how the older girl would react, but then again she did seem peculiar and pretty trusting.

 

Even though Yeojin just met Yerim, for some reason the younger girl feels like she can trust her with anything, after all she  _did_  save her life.

 

"You see," Yeojin started again with a different approach, "I'm not really from here...A few...seconds ago? I guess. I was huddled in a storage room while running away from home and the next thing I know, I drop out of the sky. Landing on a bunch of garbage bags and telling grown men that I'm a nationally ranked 'Jujitsuist' which is something from anime, and then I meet you." Yeojin admitted before sighing out and looking at the older girl to see her reaction. Surprisingly, Yerim looked like she believed her. Any normal person would have probably just laughed it off or called her crazy, but Yerim didn't.

 

"I see... Where did you live in your world?" Yerim asked again as she took the smaller girl's hand into hers causing Yeojin to blush slightly and her brain to malfunction.

 

"I..Uh. I lived in Seoul." Yeojin barely sputtered out and Yerim brightly smiled at her.

 

"Oh, really! I've always wanted to go to Seoul." Yerim spoke out before another question popped up into her head.

 

"If you got here. Can you go back to your world? Are you trying to?"

 

"I...I don't know. I haven't really tried. To be honest, I don't even know where to start." Yeojin sighed defeatedly but felt the older girl's hand rub her back soothingly which surprisingly caused her to calm down.

 

"Maybe I can help you? If you're going to stay here for a while, maybe you could go to school with me! Trust me, it'll be really fun! We can have the same classes and you could even stay at my place! Oh...sorry rambling again." Yerim nervously giggled but Yeojin shook her head with a soft smile.

 

"I would love to." Yeojin spoke softly.

 

Yeojin agreed even though she knew she wouldn't like school.

 

The laughter which was aimed at her. The pushes, the shoves.

 

The drinks being spilled on her. The teachers not giving a single fuck about her.

 

But.

 

If it was for Yerim.

 

She'd do it all again. 


	8. 3 [Yeojin] Highschool

* * *

 

The night went by silently and quickly, and for the first time Yeojin was able to get some sleep.

 

Emphasis on  _some._ She was able to sleep, but not without having countless nightmares causing the girl to toss and turn on Yerim's couch.

 

Images of blood splatters, tears, screaming and then just darkness causing her to cry out before sitting up straight breathless.

 

Yeojin looks around the room, trying to ground herself and making sure she didn't wake up the older girl before quietly walking to the veranda and breathing in deeply.

 

Only a few hours had passed and Yeojin could see the brightly colored sun rise up slowly as it contrasted with the starry night sky.

 

The buildings in her view were lit up with beautiful shades of blue and orange along with a few cars passing by.

 

Yeojin looked around the veranda to see a few potted plants, but upon further inspection she saw little figurines. One of an orange frog, which is coincidentally her favorite animal and color, and another of a purple fruit bat.

 

She picked the two figurines up, carefully looking at them and smiling softly.

 

"You like my collection?" Yerim's voice surprised Yeojin which caused her to jump and squeak a little, losing grip of the figurines which were then caught by Yerim.

 

"W-Wow, you're very quiet, and you have really good reflexes. Um..sorry. Did I wake you up?" Yeojin asked cautiously before seeing the taller girl shake her head.

 

"No, no. Don't worry about it. I'm a light sleeper anyways. I think I was just more worried about you, you were mumbling a lot in your sleep." Yerim admitted which made Yeojin more nervous.

 

Yeojin looked at the taller girl again, but then realized that her hair was a different color than their first encounter. She raised an eyebrow at the older girl before pointing at her hair in curiosity.

 

"Oh! Right! I forgot to explain to you. My hair color changing is just a part of my powers. Whenever I use my powers my hair turns purple and my eye goes all weird, I kinda hate it." Yerim rambled, but before she could ramble further, Yeojin interrupted her.

 

"I think it's beautiful." Yeojin said without thinking, but then realized what she said causing both girls to become flustered and get awkward.

 

"T-Thank you.." Yerim mumbled quietly which made Yeojin smile softly before she turned to face her.

 

"What are your powers anyways?" Yeojin asked with curiosity which caused the older girl to bite her lip, thinking about all of her powers.

 

"Hm..Well. I only know a few of my powers, you see I only recently found out about them when I almost got kidnapped and I tried to fight back. I ended up breaking the guy's arm before running off and trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me. So currently my powers are, teleportation, super speed, super strength, flight and reading minds." Yeojin looked at Yerim with a stunned look which caused the older girl to chuckle and ruffle her hair.

 

"Holy shit. You beat someone's ass up. All I did was go 'I HAVE THE POWER OF GOD AND ANIME ON MY SIDE AAAAA' on that dude's ass." Yeojin looked at Yerim with admiration before the latter burst into laughter.

 

"Yes, I saw that. It was quite a distraction." Yerim admitted before Yeojin looked at her again.

 

"You saw?"

 

"Yeah, I was there from the beginning, but then you caught my eye and I wanted to see what you would do. I could tell you were a good person Yeojin." Yerim looked at the shorter girl fondly which caused the latter to blush and mutter a small 'thank you'.

 

"Do you...maybe want to talk about why you ran away from home? Maybe some more details on how you exactly got here? Feel free to take your time." Yerim knew it was a touchy subject, but she also knew that just bottling it up wasn't the best idea either.

 

Yeojin took in a deep breath before speaking.

 

"I ran away from home because my parents are really toxic. They fight everyday and everynight that I never got any sleep. Even just before when I tried to sleep, that was the most sleep I've gotten in a long time. They would always slam on tables, break things, pin the blame on each other and whenever I tried to interfere they would blame it on me. So I decided that I had enough. I was going to run away from home and stay at the school for a few days before going to my sister's dorm room to beg her to let me stay there. But when I was at the school, something just really drew me to the storage room. When I went in there, there was a game console which was a pretty old version, and I decided to play it, but the weird thing was was that someone already played it. Like five days ago and then they just left it there. So I played it, there were 'stories' we could choose and I'll be honest, yours wasn't the first one I chose. There was a yellow cat, a pink deer, a blue fish, a peach penguin, a green butterfly and then yours, a purple bat. And now that I think about it, the game was probably the reason why the first person that played it left it there."

 

"Because they were sucked into this world..." Yerim finished before looking into Yeojin's eyes and holding her shoulders.

 

"D-do you think this means...I'm not real?" Yerim asked quietly, her eyes glistening with tears while Yeojin stared into them.

 

Oh.

 

Yeojin never really thought about that.

 

Maybe she said too much, because now she just made someone question her entire existence, and Yeojin  _knows_  how that feels.

 

"I...I don't know to be honest...But I don't think you're fake. You're  _realer_  than anyone I've ever met and I'd rather stay here with  _you_ than be in that hell hole..." Yeojin looked down at the ground before feeling the taller girl's embrace.

 

Yeojin looked up at the girl to see her crying but with a smile on her face.

 

 _How beautiful.._  Yeojin thought to herself as she stared at the taller girl.

 

 _How beautiful it is when someone is able to smile when they're crying_... Yeojin thought to herself again but then saw the older girl blush slightly.

 

"Oh my god wait...you read my mind!" Yeojin quipped which caused the older girl to look away slightly while sniffling.

 

"N-no I didn't. You have no proof." Yerim huffed and crossed her arms while Yeojin raised an eyebrow at the older girl.

 

 _Cats are better than dogs_. Yeojin thought to herself again while looking at Yerim who only gasped at her.

 

"Ok, first of all! All animals are great! They are all equal! Don't be animalist Yeojinnie." Yerim spoke out before clasping her hand over her mouth, looking at Yeojin wide eyed who just looked at her smugly.

 

"Case and point." Yeojin retorted with a finger gun which caused the older girl to groan before the two of them giggled.

 

"Maybe, having you here isn't so bad either. It was awfully lonely being here by myself." Yerim admitted as Yeojin glanced at her again.

 

"Don't you have any family?" Yeojin asked but then realized from the silence that that might have been too blunt.

 

"No no, it's ok. Don't feel bad. It was a while ago, they passed away in a car accident. I was the only one that survived and I'm guessing that's how my powers came to be maybe." Yerim spoke with a small smile as Yeojin looked at her in wonder.

 

"How do you smile like that?" Yeojin asked without thinking again, which was a bad habit of hers.

 

"Pardon?"

 

"How do you smile even when you're suffering?" Yeojin asked genuinely and Yerim was shocked at the bluntness of the question before smiling again.

 

"It's better to smile than to be hung up on the bad things you know? There are too many bad things that can happen in the world that it's not worth to get hung up over, so I just smile." Yerim replied without stopping and noticed Yeojin was staring at her.

 

 _In that case._  Yeojin thought to herself again hoping that Yerim would hear.

 

Yeojin smiled a genuine and large smile which caused Yerim's breath to hitch.

 

That was when Yerim promised to herself and Yeojin, that she would protect that smile. No matter what.

 

* * *

 

Time flew by with their conversations and immediate connection, and before they realized it, Yerim's alarm for school went off.

 

The shorter girl went to find the alarm to shut it off before Yerim gave the shorter girl some spare clothes and other necessities, letting the younger girl use the shower first.

 

After Yeojin was done, she came out wearing one of Yerim's t-shirts which was oversized for her but looked cute on her, as well as some of the taller girl's shorts, wearing her long forgotten glasses with her hair down.

 

After the two girls finished getting ready, Yerim took Yeojin out to her school and when they stepped foot onto campus, Yeojin froze.

 

"What's the matter Yeojinnie?" Yerim asked while looking at the younger girl with concern.

 

 

Yeojin looked at her with a scared look.

 

 

"This school...is the exact same as the one in my world..."


	9. 4 [Yeojin] Parallelism

* * *

 

"This school...is the exact same as the one in my world..."

 

* * *

 

Yeojin looked at the taller girl with fear written all over her face.

 

As a sea of people walked around in the school, Yeojin could recognize many people amongst the crowd. Most of which she never talked to, besides the teachers and a few of the students.

 

Yeojin stood there frozen as she stared and stared at the school that seemed as if it was taunting her. Her body trembled from the flood of memories as she looked at the school. How most of the time she wouldn't even do her homework because it was too noisy back home and she could never hear her own thoughts. She ditched school a lot of the times too, and whenever she was caught, the office would have to call her parents and she hoped maybe that way she could gain their attention.

 

But.

 

It was to no avail.

 

They would start arguing about whose fault it was that Yeojin started ditching school, blaming each other for the influence when in reality, Yeojin just wanted them to notice her. 

 

To praise her when she did something right.

 

To comfort her when she was feeling down.

 

To be happy with her.

 

And in times,

 

To be sad with her.

 

But alas,

 

Life never worked that way.

 

As time went on, Yeojin felt more and more invisible and less and less connected with her parents. All she longed for was to see her sister.

 

* * *

 

Yerim's hand on her shoulder and the taller girl shaking her while quietly shouting her name caused the latter to snap out of the flood of memories.

 

"Are you ok Yeojin?" Yerim asked with a concerned look on her face as she rubbed small soothing circles on the side of Yeojin's shoulder, causing the younger girl to relax a bit.

 

The younger girl flashed her an awkward and forced smile.

 

"Yeah, um. I'm fine, I'll explain to you more afterwards. Can you help register me into the school?" Yeojin asked the older girl quietly who nodded before gently taking her hand and leading her into the main office of the school.

 

Yeojin tried her best to ignore the eyes that were glued onto her as she passed by and into the main office.

 

Yerim let go of her hand once they reached the main desk, which Yeojin wouldn't admit that she wanted to hold onto more.

 

An awkward silence fell upon them for a few moments before the lady at the front desk rushed over panting slightly and smiled.

 

"What do you girls need?" The lady asked nicely as she looked at the two girls.

 

"So my friend Yeojin here wants to register for this school, could you maybe put her in?" Yerim cleared her throat before asking and then looking at the shorter girl next to her who glanced at her as well.

 

"What's your full name sweetie?" The lady asked, waiting for the said girl to reply, which Yeojin nervously did.

 

"Um, I'm Im Yeojin." Yeojin quietly and nervously spoke up, fiddling with her fingers a little before feeling the taller girl's hand wrap around hers to comfort her.

 

The lady raised an eyebrow before looking at Yeojin and then took off her glasses.

 

"Miss, are you sure you're ok? Did anything happen?" The lady asked, filled with concern which left the two girls confused.

 

"Yes, I'm ok. Why do you ask?" Yeojin looked at the lady, her face filled with confusion.

 

"Well, it says here that you're already registered. Do you maybe want a paper with all your classes written down?" The lady explained before asking again, to which Yeojin nodded her head in agreement.

 

Yeojin looked calm on the outside, but internally she was so confused for her life.

 

She had exchanged panicked glances with the taller girl next to her, both showing signs of confusion and decided that they would talk about it in a more private area.

 

* * *

 

After the office attendant had printed out a copy of Yeojin's schedule, the smaller girl pulled the older girl into the girl's bathroom and into one of the larger stalls.

 

"Ok. First of all. What the FUCK." Yeojin sighed out, venting out her emotions as her hand was held against her forehead, the taller girl trying to calm her down.

 

"Do you think this means something Yeojin? Like maybe  _you_  were  _meant_  to be in this world? Going off on what you said earlier, you did state that the game console showed out of nowhere and that something was attracting you to the storage room. Do you think it might have wanted you to come here?" Yerim whispered to the shorter girl, using her heightened hearing to make sure no one was going to enter.

 

Yeojin sighed out before biting her lip and grabbing her hair in frustration.

 

"I've never been more confused in my life Yerim. And I thought things with my parents were confusing, but now there's this. I just, don't know what to do. Even if the game wanted me to be here, why  _me_. I'm not special. I don't have any talents, or really anything interesting about me. I'm...I'm just a kid with familial issues who's lonely and uses memes to compensate for lost time." Yeojin softly cried out, feeling tears sting at her eyes again but she refused to cry.

 

"Yeojin, the first moment I met you, I could already tell you're special. And I  _know_  there has to be a reason as to why you're here. You may not know why right now, but I promise you that we'll get through it together." Yerim softly smiled at the shorter girl who looked at her, the older girl's smile being contagious, spread to the younger's.

 

"Ok, let's say if that  _were_  true. What would the game even want me to do?" Yeojin asked Yerim as she held softly onto the older girl's arm, basking in the comfort that she provided.

 

Yerim paused for a moment, her hand resting against her chin as she thought hard before reaching a conclusion.

 

"What does any game want you to do?" Yerim questioned Yeojin who looked up at her with furrowed eyebrows which she thought was cute.

 

"What do you mean unnie?" Yeojin asked in confusion, the honorific comfortably slipping out before the two girls blushed simultaneously, then pretended to not have noticed.

 

"Like, for example, if you made a game and gave it to someone to play. What do you want them to do with the game?" Yerim explained before eliciting a gasp from the younger girl.

 

"We have to finish the game. Well, at least somehow." Yeojin noted and Yerim nodded excitedly.

 

"Exactly! I think if we just go with the flow right now, things will eventually take us to where it wants us to be, like a storyline." Yerim explained again.

 

Yerim pulled Yeojin into a hug as the two girls giggle excitedly, happy that they at least have a clue as to what the game wants.

 

Yeojin really underestimated Yerim, and she felt bad for it.

 

From her previous conversations and encounters with the girl, she would have expected her to be the brunette superhero equivalent to a dumb blonde, but in reality, she was actually pretty intuitive.

 

Yerim could always tell that there was something on the smaller girl's mind and was always there for her when she needed it most.

 

Ever since Yeojin met Yerim, she felt a lot more safe and just comfortable around her, and saying that meant a  _lot_.

 

Yeojin hadn't felt comfort in years, and it was amazing what the older girl could make her feel in a span of a few days.

 

* * *

 

Once the two girls settled down, they took a look at the classes that Yeojin had and not only were they identical to Yerim's but also identical to her school schedule back in her world.

 

She remembered the unpleasant people that were in some of her periods in her world and she wondered if they were here as well.

 

As they made their way into their mathematics class, Yeojin saw everyone from her world there. Even the teacher was identical.

 

The teacher made eye contact with them before giving them a soft smile as they walked in, it was as if the teacher had seen them everyday and was used to seeing them. Yeojin felt completely out of place and alone as well, but right when those thoughts started invading her mind, she felt Yerim's hand around hers, causing those thoughts to fleet away as quickly as they came.

 

The two girls sat next to each other instinctively, but Yeojin could feel eyes boring right through the back of her head which she chose to ignore.

 

She already knew who it was.

 

* * *

 

When class ended, Yerim told Yeojin to wait outside the classroom for a bit since she needed to talk to the teacher, so she did as she was asked.

 

Her arms were crossed as she stood across the door to the classroom, but then she saw  _her_  walk closer and closer to her.

 

Yeojin's eyes instinctively fell to the ground, her arms falling to her sides, ready to defend herself at any time.

 

"What do you want?" Yeojin coldly asked, but was met with a slam against the wall near the side of her head.

 

"You were gone for a few days, we really missed ya. But you should have left for good." The girl sneered out before grabbing the shorter girl by the collar and then lifting her up easily as if she weighed no more than a feather.

 

Yeojin held at the girl's wrist as she squirmed around, struggling in the bully's grasp before seeing the latter raise a fist to hit her.

 

Yeojin closed her eyes out of fear before being dropped on the floor with two loud thuds.

 

...

 

_Huh?_

 

 _Two loud thuds?_  Yeojin thought to herself before slowly finding the courage to open her eyes. She saw Yerim standing up in front of her with her hand out, reminiscent to their first encounter.

 

And Yeojin, again in a heartbeat, took the girl's hand.

 

Yeojin felt her heart beat fast.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    你不要這樣嚇我*  
      
    

* * *

 

Yeojin didn't know what she was feeling. This sensation was all too foreign for her.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    這太快了*  
      
    

* * *

 

Yeojin felt tears stinging at her eyes again from the fear from before, but she quickly felt the older girl's embrace before sobbing quietly against her shoulder.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    抱我就好*  
      
    

* * *
    
    
      
    請等我一下*  
      
    

* * *

 

 

 

 

A/N:

Translations:  
*Stop scaring me  
*It's too fast  
*Just hug me  
*Wait for me

(lyrics from Kiss Later)


	10. 1 [Haseul] Call From Home

* * *

 

Jo Haseul received a call from her parents.

 

Usually, that would be normal for a college student right? To receive calls from their family to converse and maybe visit over the breaks, but not for Haseul.

 

Haseul hasn't received  _one_  call from them ever since she went to college, which was three years ago, so she knew that something was wrong, and from the fact that it was currently 4 in the morning. 

 

Haseul rushed to her phone before picking it up and hearing the yelling of her mother and father which only died down momentarily when they realized she picked up.

 

"What happened?" Haseul immediately asked, biting her lip out of habit for when she's anxious as she awaited their answer.

 

She heard the two of them sigh from the other end.

 

"I..Haseul..We should have paid more attention to her...She's missing.. We think she ran away. Her window was open and all her belongings are gone. We thought she might have gone to your place or maybe the school, can you please find her?" Haseul was shocked at the worry dripping from her mother's voice, but thinking about how her parents treated Yeojin and it being so bad that she had ran away made her blood boil.

 

"Fine. But once I find her, she's going under  _my_  custody until the two of you can handle your shit, ok? She's only 16 and she has had enough on her shoulders, but you wouldn't know that because you were never there for her. It was always  _me_  to take care of her. Even when she was a child.  _I_  had to feed her,  _I_  had to bathe her and  _I_ had to look over her. So please, settle out your situation, but until the two of you do, she will be under my care." Haseul lashed out all in one breath, hanging up on them before they had the chance to retort and then catching her breath.

 

Haseul knew how they had treated her, how Yeojin would never get any sleep or how she always ditched school, because Yeojin told  _her_  everything.

 

Haseul could feel the weight of her sister's love and trust and she knew it was heavy for her.

 

To be truthful, Yeojin had shown signs of wanting to run away. From her late night texts to her sister about how much she misses her and begging her to take her away, Haseul didn't have enough proof to actually take her away, but now that she does, it's her main priority.

 

* * *

 

Haseul stuffs her phone into her pocket before grabbing her car keys and immediately walking out of her dorm.

 

She sprints to her car before driving off to Yeojin's school to see if she is either near there or somewhere in the school.

 

Haseul would search through the entire school if she had to, because she was determined to find her sister.

 

* * *

 

Once Haseul found a safe and valid place to park in the parking lot, she rushed onto campus, looking around to decide where to search first. 

 

Knowing how much Yeojin loved to sing and dance, she checked the music building first, sprinting around to search in nooks and crannies before slowing down to a jog, and then to a walk.

 

After checking through every room, she decides to run to the main building where most classes were held. Haseul's idea was that if Yeojin wasn't in the music building then she would be in a place where there was lots of space and places for her to hide.

 

As Haseul was walking through the halls and corridors of the building, she noticed something on the ground in front of her. She bent down to pick it up, eyes widening when she realizes that it was one of Yeojin's hair pins meaning that she was going in the right direction. 

 

Haseul looked around again, daring to shout out Yeojin's name a few times but was met with her echo and then a silence.

 

She checked every classroom which was unlocked, assuming that Yeojin wouldn't have been able to get into a classroom or just any room which was locked, but there was one last place she hasn't gone to yet which was near the classrooms.

 

The storage room.

 

Haseul felt something pulling her towards the room, as if she  _had_  to go there, or rather that she  _needed_  to. 

 

Haseul wanted to move along and forget about it but the pulling feeling as well as a hint of hope that Yeojin might be in there caused her to gravitate to the door of the storage room.

 

The short haired girl with shaky hands, opened the door but was met with a dark room, lightly lit with the bright screen of a video game console.

 

Haseul walked in and turned on the lights, the door falling back into its place before the girl heard a click behind her, startling her.

 

She turned around to try to open the door, but the door wouldn't budge.

 

She felt that it was odd for a storage room to be locked on the inside, but only sighed in frustration when she realized she had no way to find Yeojin.

 

Haseul looked around the storage room and she saw Yeojin's bag. She knelt down to open it, revealing all of her belongings and even her phone which Haseul found strange since Yeojin never went anywhere without her phone.

 

 _She must have been here_ , Haseul thought to herself before plopping down on the floor and sighing out.

 

 _But if she's not here, then where could she be?_  Haseul thought once again.

 

Haseul looked around again, her eyes drifting back to the game console from before. She thought it was weird how a game console was just here in the middle of a storage room, but then just assumed that someone might have been playing on it. 

 

 _Yeojin_  might have been the one playing on it.

 

Desperate for hope, Haseul picked up the controller which was connected to the console before trying out the controls and pressing start on the untitled game.

 

Haseul learned a thing or two from playing video games with her sister since their parents were always too busy.

 

The screen then flashed the word 'LOOΠΔVERSE' which Haseul assumed was the game's title.

 

The screen showed a saved file with the game saying it was last played two days ago which was around the time Yeojin went missing, confirming the older girl's suspicions.

 

Using what she last learned from Yeojin, she pressed enter on the saved file and instead it asked her to fill out her information which Haseul tiredly put in.

 

Instead of seeing the previous player's progress like Yeojin explained to her years ago, she was met with differently colored icons of animals, the message on the screen asking her to 'choose a story'.

 

"A story? I don't see any stories...Am I just being stupid?" Haseul murmured to herself as she scrolled through all the icons.

 

The first icon being a yellow cat.

 

The second icon being a pastel pink deer.

 

The third being a blue betta fish.

 

The fourth icon being a purple bat.

 

The fifth icon being peach colored penguins.

 

And the last icon being an eden green butterfly. 

 

 

Haseul tried to choose the yellow cat, but a message popped up on screen as well as the controller vibrating which startled the college student.

 

The message said, 'Someone is already playing this story.' Which Haseul assumed was Yeojin, so she decided to choose the pastel pink deer, confirming her decision without a second thought.

 

There was a momentary pause before the screen flashed a bright pastel pink, causing the girl to cover and close her eyes, squeaking from the brightness before feeling as if she was falling, which she was and did fall on the ground with a loud rustle.

 

Wait...

 

A rustle?

 

Haseul quickly opened her eyes to realize that she fell into a pile of dried leaves before immediately jumping off, and dusting off any excess leaves that were on her body.

 

Haseul looked around and she realized she was  _definitely_  not in the storage room anymore.

 

She was in a forest and when she looked around, she saw a figure in white with paper white hair and a bob cut for a brief moment, so brief that she wasn't able to see it's face.

 

It scared her to know that she wasn't alone here.

 

But she had many questions in mind, the most important one being:

 

_Where the hell am I?_


	11. 2 [Haseul] A Whole New World

* * *

 

_Where am I?_

 

* * *

 

To be quite truthful, Haseul was scared.

 

One minute she was locked inside a storage room, and the next she's transported to a forest with a mysterious figure roaming around.

 

She heard the snapping of twigs on the forest floor, her breath hitched as she tried to feign indifference, trying to shake away the fear and her own shaking.

 

After looking around and stepping in small circles, Haseul mustered up her courage to yell out.

 

"H-hey! W-Who's there!" She yelled out, but only her echo answered, followed with more leaves rustling and twigs snapping.

 

Just when she thought she was safe for now, she turned around and was met with a tall man with narrow eyes, snow white skin, pointy and long ears, paper white hair and a bow and arrow pointed right at her. She screamed in surprise, falling onto her back as her body quivered while looking at the man.

 

Haseul scrambled backwards, her back meeting against a tree as she looked at the man scared.

 

"P-please don't hurt me." She begged, but the man didn't answer. Instead, the man asked her a question.

 

"Why are you in our forest? Do you not know that this is Enchanted territory? Who are you? Who sent you here? What are you doing here?" The man questioned continuously and it took a few minutes along with the motivation of the man's bow and arrow aimed at her head for her to answer some of the questions.

 

"I-I don't know...I just appeared here out of nowhere...And um what's the enchanted territory? I-I'm Jo Haseul... and I don't think anyone sent me here...and the last question is what I'm trying to find out as well." Haseul said earnestly and the man studied her face carefully, trying to see if she was being honest or not. 

 

He rests his bow and arrow at his sides before signaling for Haseul to get up which she quickly followed. Haseul assumed that the man could tell that she was being honest since she didn't have an arrow in her skull.

 

"I will be taking you to our queen. She will decide what is to become of you." The man said before walking on ahead past some trees and a clearing which Haseul jogged to catch up on.

 

"Q-queen? You guys have a queen? W-wait...What  _are_  you guys?" Haseul asked cautiously, not knowing whether it was rude or not to ask such a question.

 

"Yes. Queen Wong Kahei. And  _I_  am an elf, thank you very much." The man answered bluntly before swiping away some loose branches and stepping over large rocks which Haseul had to climb over cause of her height.

 

"Um.. What's your name?" Haseul asked again, wanting to clear the air of awkwardness which wasn't really her strong point but it would have to do for the time being.

 

"My name is Lezorith Advacaz. One of the many elf warriors in our kingdom, along with the dryads and the ents. We all live peacefully in the Enchanted Kingdom." Lezorith explained and Haseul nodded in understanding when in reality, she was trying to take in the information that the man standing in front of her was an  _elf_  and that there were dryads and ents which were only known to be in stories in her world.

 

It was terrifying yet so exciting, and she could only wonder what else they offered, she was also very excited to meet the queen. 

 

Haseul always loved exploring, which was probably why she was trying to major in Biology. She loved learning new things about the world and learning more about the things that were already known. It was her passion, and this world only made things more exciting and majestic. But she had reasons to doubt herself.

 

As they walked further into the forest, nearing the Kingdom, Haseul's excitement changed to doubt and fear.

What if they find a reason to kill her?

 

What if they find no use of her?

 

What if she's stuck here forever?

 

No. She had to find a way out. She needed to find Yeojin, wherever she was.

 

From all the clues and hints of Yeojin's presence near the game console, Haseul could only assume that she too was sucked into this world. But not  _this_  world. Since the other icons were taken up, Yeojin must have been in one of the other ones.

 

But how is Haseul gonna find her?

 

* * *

 

As her mind was filled with thoughts, they reached the entrance of the Kingdom, looking up she could see the entrance gate guarded by large birch wood tree ents who held long spears. Through the holes of the gate, Haseul could see men and women with wings, which she assumed were faeries, she saw men and women, some with animal heads or animal bodies which fascinated her.

 

"Who's this." The birch ent grumbled out before Lezorith bowed and showed him a card.

 

"I found this one in our territory, I am bringing her in to the queen so she can decide what to do with her and interrogate her." The elf explained, receiving a nod from the ent before the latter gave a nod to his companions, letting them open the gates.

 

As the elf went through the gates, Haseul quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind as she felt the numerous stares and whispers of the residents of the Kingdom.

 

Haseul looked around to see many huts with people yelling out orders and bargains so she assumed that it was a market, there were also children running around and playing which warmed her heart. It reminded her of the days when she and Yeojin would play together in her room so that she could distract the younger girl from their parent's fights.

 

The two of them walked closer and closer to a large castle, the trail getting more and more defined with gravel as the crunching of the pebbles synchronized with their steps. 

 

* * *

 

When Haseul and Lezorith arrived in the castle, Haseul looked around to see many guards of different species lined up with weapons and armour. And on the throne in the middle of the far back of the room sat a pink haired woman with deer horns sprouting at the top of her head, which Haseul assumed was the Queen.

 

 _Kahei, was it?_  Haseul thought to herself as she tried to look at the queen, but her vision failing her. They stepped closer and closer before they stopped at a reasonable distance, Haseul now being able to see how beautiful and doll-like the queen was before noticing Lezorith going down on one knee and she quickly followed suit.

 

'"What brings you here, elf?" The queen's voice was quiet, calculated and not only that, it was the softest and most beautiful thing that Haseul has ever heard in her life. If the Queen was a singer, Haseul would have fallen immediately for her voice.

 

"I have brought you a stranger here. She says she does not know where she came from or why she is here. She was in our territory my Queen." Lezorith explained as he looked at the ground and Haseul looked at him before daring to peek up a little at the Queen who wore an indifferent look on here face.

 

"You. What is your name and why are you here?" The Queen asked again and Haseul gulped before speaking up, nervous from the authority of the lady's voice.

 

"M-my name is Jo Haseul a-and I didn't know where I was. I just appeared here out of nowhere." Haseul explained the best as she could, but she received a raise of the eyebrow from the Queen.

 

"Everyone knows about the Enchanted Kingdom. Tell me, are you from here? What are you?" Haseul's gaze fluttered back and forth, still nervous that she would say something wrong or accidentally offend the lady.

 

"I-I'm not from here...I guess I'm from another world, but I don't know how I got here. I-I'm a human." Haseul answered and after she said the last part, gasps were heard from all over the room following with whispers.

 

"A human? Aren't those extinct?" One voice called out.

 

"Impossible, she's bluffing!" Another said.

 

The Queen raised her hand up as the conversing continued, but after the guards noticed her hand being raised, they immediately went quiet.

 

"You say you are human? Humans only exist in the Third Realm. Either you are lying, or you really are human." Queen Kahei spoke up softly once again and Haseul's brows furrowed.

 

"T-The Third Realm?" Haseul asked, hearing another gasp from the guards and a glare from the elf beside her before the latter leaned in closer and whispered to her.

 

"I don't know where you are from, but here we do not question our majesty." Lezorith harshly whispered out and Haseul nodded before looking down apologetically, but was dismissed with the wave of the Queen's hand.

 

"Guards. Prepare a room for the human. Faeries, please measure her and prepare some proper clothes for her. Servants, please let the chefs know we have a guest and tell them to prepare a meal." Haseul looked up at the Queen in awe as the latter smiled softly at the younger girl.

 

"B-but, she's human! We can't trust her!" One guard spoke up and Kahei's smile disappeared before putting on an authoritative glare.

 

"Are you questioning my authority?" The Queen slightly raised her voice, causing the said guard to yelp and shake his head before muttering apologies and immediately running off with the other guards.

 

"I will be testing her honesty in privacy, so please Lezorith, go back to the troops and watch out for any more danger from the orcs." The Queen commanded before Lezorith stood up and bowed politely, then leaves the castle.

 

The servants left into what Haseul assumed was the entrance to the kitchen, and the faeries to some other room, giving the Queen and Haseul some privacy, and the guards going to prepare a room for her.

 

Kahei stood up from her throne while Haseul is still on one knee, in awe from the Queen's beauty as she approached her.

 

"Now, I will be placing my hand on your forehead and then asking you the same questions from before. If you lie then I will feel your forehead heat up, if not then it will stay as it is right now." Queen Kahei informed the younger girl who nodded and gasped lightly from the coolness of the Queen's palm against her forehead.

 

"What is your name?" The Queen asked.

 

"Jo Haseul." Her forehead did not heat up.

 

"Why are you here?" 

 

"I-I don't know." Haseul stuttered, but her forehead did not heat up.

 

"Are you from here?"

 

"N-no, I didn't even know this place existed until now." Haseul rambled a little before stopping herself, her forehead did not heat up once again. Haseul's gaze was directed at one of the large windows in the castle.

 

"What are you?" 

 

"I am a human, or at least I think I am." Haseul answered honestly, and once again her forehead did not heat up.

 

As Kahei was thinking of some more questions to ask Haseul, Haseul saw the same figure from before staring at her through the window, mouthing something.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    Hleyptu mér inn*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

Haseul squinted at the figure, not understanding what it was trying to say. She was scared again, for some reason a part of her felt like she knew what it was, but she didn't.

 

She stared at the figure more carefully, noticing it having short, snow white hair along with white feathers all along the body, but she couldn't tell if it was a girl or a boy, and strangely...it looked like her.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    Það getur ekki verið tilviljun*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

Suddenly, the figure disappeared which left Haseul confused and the Queen noticed this.

 

"Are you okay?" Kahei asked filled with concern.

 

* * *
    
    
      
    
    Verður ég þér?*  
    
      
    
    

* * *

 

"Yeah I'm fine." Haseul forced a smile with which the Queen returned.

 

But her forehead heated up.

 

 

She knew she was lying.

 

 

a/n:  
Translations:  
*Let me in  
*It can't be coincidence  
*Will I be you?


	12. 3 [Haseul] I Am You

* * *

 

_She knew she was lying._

 

* * *

 

Ever since Queen Kahei finished interrogating Haseul, the latter was tired from all the stress she had received that day.

 

From being transported into a foreign world, to being interrogated by a beautiful and majestic queen whom Haseul couldn't get off of her mind.

 

But then, there was also that white figure. Like a bird in the distance, unable to identify what it is, and unable to understand what it was saying.

 

* * *

 

Haseul didn't feel safe. It was the honest truth. Who  _would_ feel safe after being transported to a different world, interrogated by a queen who rules these creatures which she thought only existed in fairtales and movies, and that  _figure_.

 

She was close enough to tell that it looked like her, but there's no way that it could actually be her.....right?

 

Haseul didn't even know what to expect, this world was full of surprises, and hopefully not bad ones.

 

After being given a moment in her room, which the guards showed her to after Queen Kahei excused her, she heard a knock on her door, causing her to jump up from instinct and clear her throat.

 

"Who is it??" Haseul called out as the door muffled the person's voice.

 

"It is your assigned maid, m'lady. I was sent by Queen Kahei to take you to the bathing pool, and then take you to the dining hall afterwards." The girl said before Haseul hummed in response, which the maid took as an ok to open the door.

 

Haseul looked up to see a petite, well-dressed dryad who was carrying clothes with a nervous look on her face. The girl very much reminded her of Yeojin and it brought a sense of bittersweet feelings to her before remembering what her initial goal here was.

 

Haseul smiled kindly at the dryad which the latter became flustered to, her head still bowed low.

 

"What's your name?" Haseul asked her gently which shocked the dryad who looked at her like she was crazy.

 

"M-M'lady you don't need to call me by my name, you can just call me servant..." The dryad spoke quietly as she looked down and shifted her hands around.

 

Haseul placed her hand gently on the smaller girl's shoulder causing the dryad to flinch in surprise before looking at her.

 

"Where I'm from, we call each other by our names. So what's your name??" Haseul asked again with a small smile.

 

"...Penelope, m'lady." The dryad spoke up after a few seconds of contemplation and Haseul nodded.

 

"You know you don't need to use honorifics with me right? You also don't need to bow around me." Haseul said softly as she gestured to the girl awkwardly and the dryad looked up with worry in her eyes before complying.

 

"I-if you insist, m'la- Haseul." The maid quickly corrected herself before waiting for Haseul to stand up, which the latter quickly realized and did. 

 

Haseul let herself be led by the dryad as she looked around the castle at the structure, architecture and all the servants bustling around before they finally reach the bathing pool.

 

Haseul's jaw dropped when she saw the bath pool. She expected it to be something small like a bath tub, but it was a full on  _pool_. 

 

There was heaps of steam flowing out from the pool as Haseul stood there, looking at it in awe and the dryad looked at her in worry.

 

"I-is the bathing pool not to your taste, m'l-Haseul?" 

 

"No, no Penelope. It's not that. This is  _more_  than enough, it's just that this is the biggest and grandest I've ever seen." Haseul sighed out as she sucked in a breath, taking in the view around her.

 

Penelope's head tilted in curiosity as she stared at Haseul.

 

"Are things...different from where you're from, Haseul?" Penelope asked carefully, not wanting to offend the taller girl and Haseul sighed.

 

"Things there are quite different... For starters, people like you are only in stories. There aren't kingdoms like these either. Everything's more corrupt and far less beautiful than it is here. Over there we call you guys monsters, but I think in reality,  _humans_  are the monsters." Haseul rambled on, a lot in her mind as she spoke without thinking, snapping out of it as she smiled awkwardly at the dryad.

 

"Oh...I see you have a lot of sentiment from your world...Perhaps it was an unruly question..?" The shorter girl asked, her voice raising at the end of her sentence and Haseul responded with a shake of her head and a soft smile.

 

"Sooo, do I just strip and get in..?" Haseul asked awkwardly and the dryad nodded.

 

"I'll be waiting inside and just call if you need anything Haseul." Penelope shyly called out before leaving spare clothes on a bench near the edge of the bath pool, and then rushing back into the castle to give Haseul her privacy.

 

Haseul took a minute to look around the bath pool, enjoying the natural scenery lit by tiny fireflies flying around, which darkened the night sky and calmed her heart for the time being.

 

Just when she thought she could get used to it, she remembered her original motive for being here. 

 

Yeojin.

 

* * *

 

Haseul slowly started to strip her clothes off before dipping a toe into the bathing pool and feeling the refreshingly warm water contrast against her cold skin. She slowly submerges her body into the bathing pool, sighing out in relief and satisfaction before sitting down against the edge on a flattened stone.

 

Steam was filling up the area as Haseul closed her eyes for a few minutes, seeping in her surroundings and the warmness of the water before opening her eyes.

 

She made eye contact with the boy from before in the distance. 

 

Haseul wanted to scream, but something about the boy drew her in. His figure wasn't entirely visible, but she could still see him and see that he was mouthing something to her.

 

_".._ Don't trust them..? Don't trust who??" When Haseul called out in confusion, the figure turned its back on her causing her to go into a frenzy, trying to get up while yelling.

 

"Wait! What do you mean?! Please don't leave!!" Haseul yelled out in desperation. She didn't want to be burdened with this curiosity, it was like having to witness a murder to later be questioned.

 

Haseul sat back down, her hand against her forehead in frustration as she began to overthink about the boy's message, her paranoia hitting hard.

 

_What did he mean by don't trust them?? Don't trust who? Can I even trust **him?**  _Haseul sighed out in frustration before submerging the lower half of her face into the water as an attempt to calm herself which somehow worked.

 

"Lady Haseul, are you okay?? Must I come in??" Haseul heard Penelope shout out and Haseul felt her face redden even more.

 

"N-NO! I'm ok Penelope! I just saw a bug!" Haseul lied before hearing the confirming grunt of the dryad as she sank back down into the water.

 

* * *

 

After Haseul finished bathing and then changing into fresh, new clothes, Haseul stood in from of a mirror to check the outfit out. 

 

It was a white blouse with pitch black leggings which surprisingly fit her perfectly.

 

The dryad led her to the dining hall where an incredibly long table awaited her, and at the head of the table was Queen Kahei.

 

The table was lined with various sorts of dishes, some which were familiar to Haseul and others which she had never seen before.

 

Haseul shifted around awkwardly since there were many places to sit, but the girl did not know where she could or wanted to sit. 

 

Sensing her dismay, Queen Kahei spoke up, clearing her voice.

 

"You may sit anywhere, but it would be preferred if you sat close to me so we can discuss...your living matters." Queen Kahei carefully worded her response to which Haseul nodded.

 

"Do...the servants eat with us?" Haseul asked quietly, not knowing the customs of this world and the Queen chuckled at her question.

 

"Of course they do. Usually in kingdoms they eat separately, but I like treating people as equals, even as a Queen." Queen Kahei explained gently while Haseul nodded along, taking the seat at the very edge near Queen Kahei.

 

On each of the plates parallel to the chairs, there were various fruits, vegetables and seafood lined beautifully on them. Haseul stared at Queen Kahei while the latter lifted up a fork and knife.

 

The Queen's gaze was glued onto the food on her plate as her knife squeaked against the smoothness of the plate.

 

"So, for your living matters." Queen Kahei started and Haseul nodded while humming to indicate that she was listening.

 

Kahei set down her silverware before looking into Haseul's eyes.

 

"I believe we should set some ground rules."


	13. This Girl is a Boy's Girl

* * *

 

_"I believe we should set some ground rules."_

 

* * *

 

Those words echoed in Haseul ears before they really sunk in.

 

"Uh..ground rules..?" Haseul asked carefully as the Queen took a napkin to dab at the edges of her mouth eloquently and it caused Haseul to sit in anticipation and nervousness.

 

"Yes. Ground rules. First, you may not leave the kingdom without my permission. Second, if you are to go anywhere for any purpose, you must take guards. Thirdly, if you need anything you must directly ask me first." Queen Kahei explained before looking at the shorter girl for affirmation which the latter nodded to.

 

"I-I'll keep that in mind.." Haseul quietly spoke.

 

"Oh, and if you see any suspicious activity or a stranger, stay away from them and report immediately to me." Kahei added on and Haseul froze.

 

 _Should I tell her about the mysterious boy? No...They wouldn't believe me and I have no proof.. And the fact that he looks like me doesn't really help..._  Haseul thought to herself, hesitation written on her face which Queen Kahei pretended not to notice.

 

"I almost forgot. You have to obey my orders, since you are under my care, I can not have you making trouble since the blame will be pinned on me. Understand?" Queen Kahei's voice lowered as she stared into the younger girl's eyes causing the latter to gulp and nod.

 

Seeing that the Queen picked up her silverware again and was picking at pieces of the food on her plate, Haseul followed suit.

 

"So...Haseul. Tell me more about yourself." Queen Kahei spoke up before elegantly eating a bit of the food she cut.

 

Haseul hummed in contemplation, not knowing where to start.

 

"What would you like to know about me, Queen Kahei?" Haseul's voice dropped a little as she found this scenario interesting. It's not everyday you get to talk face to face with a Queen, especially some sort of mythical creature.

 

"Hm..Tell me about the world you came from. What it's like there, and maybe more about yourself too. Your family, etc." The Queen spoke calculatedly before taking a sip of her water in a fancy glass cup.

 

Haseul stopped in her tracks before gently placing her silverware on the table. She looked up a bit to think about what she should say.

 

"I think I told you a bit about what it was like before, so I guess I'll tell you about school and my family." Haseul started before seeing Kahei nod which she took as a sign to continue speaking.

 

"I used to live with my mom, dad and my younger sister. Our family is...complicated. She's my half sister. We have different dads but the same mom. I left for college 3 years ago and things with our parents kind of went downhill..." Haseul continued, contemplating whether she should tell her about their family situation but when she saw Queen Kahei's expression on her face, she knew she could trust her, even if she just met her.

 

"Our parents fight a lot. Like harshly. They throw stuff, break stuff, slam stuff, you name it. And ever since I moved out, it happens everyday. It's so bad that my little sister can't even sleep or even focus on school. She would ditch school all the time and when the teachers would call, I would have to be the one to explain since our parents are too busy fighting. A-and then she ran away. That's how I got to be here. I was looking for her and then somehow ended up here.." Haseul rambled on, feeling tears flow down her cheek as she started hyperventilating.

 

Haseul felt a soft and warm touch on her cheek which caused her breath to hitch as she looked at the taller girl.

 

"Shhh..It's ok. I know you're worried but we can get through this together. I'll help you find your sister ok? I'm sure she's safe." Queen Kahei gently comforted Haseul and for some reason it worked.

 

They were just simple phrases, but the way that the older girl said it felt so  _genuine_ , like things were actually going to get better.

 

Haseul's breathing evened out as she sniffled slightly from time to time, calming down more when she feels the older girl's fingers wipe away her stray tears.

 

"You must have had that all bottled up, didn't you." Queen Kahei softly spoke and Haseul nodded in response to the older girl.

 

Haseul felt the Queen pull her against her torso, and Haseul could hear the calming heartbeat of the older girl which fully calmed her down.

 

The servants left the room, feeling awkward and leaving the two alone to have their talks. After resting against Queen Kahei for a few more minutes, Haseul pulled away, looking down while blushing and muttering a 'thank you'.

 

"Is there anything that you would like to know about me? I feel that it would only be fair for me to open up since you did too." Queen Kahei answered honestly and the latter hummed, thinking about the questions she wanted to ask.

 

"Umm, I would like to know more about you..Queen Kahei. Uh maybe like, what you are? I-if that's not offensive or anything, I don't know how things work around here..." Haseul rambled on which emitted a soft chuckle from the Queen.

 

"Well, I can assure you that I am not offended. I can see why you're curious since we do not exist in your world. I was born as Wong Kahei, a special type of Cervitaur. Oh and feel free to just call me Kahei. Only close people get to call me that." Queen Kahei ended the sentence with a wink which caused the shorter girl to blush slightly.

 

"Um, what's a Cervitaur??" Haseul asked, tilting her head in confusion.

 

"Basically, half deer and half human, although I'm a special type. Most Cervitaurs have the lower body of deer, but coming from royal blood, I have the entire body of a human but with these royal antlers." Kahei explained before tilting her head down a little, signaling for Haseul to touch them, which the latter did with shaky hands.

 

The root of the antlers were surprisingly smooth while the top part was a bit more rough and jagged, which in some sort of way, reminded Haseul of the Queen in front of her. Haseul retracted her hand after feeling a bit and then smiling at the Queen who raised her head again.

 

Before the two of them could say anything again, a guard rushed into the dining hall, panting and out of breath before saluting and standing a good distance away from the Queen.

 

"What is it?" Kahei's voice was dripping with concern as she examined the elf standing before her.

 

"S-some of the villagers were killed and some were injured. We found their bodies impaled with spikes and on their bodies were writings in blood..." Haseul looked at the elf, he was visibly shaking and traumatized.

 

"What was written?" Queen Kahei asked calmly again, letting the elf take a minute to recollect his thoughts.

 

"It said...'You're all fools' and on another..'You're all doomed'.." The guard spoke up again before looking at the ground in anger.

 

"Was there anything there at where they were murdered?" Kahei asked after a minute of contemplation.

 

"Yes...There was.." The guard sighed again, rubbing his eyes.

 

"What was it?" Haseul asked for the Queen, wanting to find out who did it.

 

* * *

 

"A white feather."

 

Haseul froze.

 


	14. 1 [Yves] New Day

It was a regular day more than anything for Ha Sooyoung, although something felt a bit off.

 

Everything felt as if it was a bit slanted or tilted, that everything was at a different angle and she couldn't understand why.

 

Usually at this time in the morning, Sooyoung would be getting ready for school in her house, but due to different circumstances, she was unable to.

 

Sooyoung thought that she had everything under control, and maybe she felt a little too confident.

 

One day she had brought a girl home, the two of them clinging onto each other, clearly intoxicated before stripping each other, not noticing the creeping footsteps nearing their door, but they did notice the loud shatter of the glass that Sooyoung's mother had in her hand.

 

Everything went downhill from that moment on.

 

Sooyoung could see the pure disgust and rage in her mother's eyes, causing her to flinch and look away before feelings pain on her cheeks.

 

Sooyoung's date had already snuck out, leaving Sooyoung afraid and alone against the wrath of her mother, who had immediately taken all of the poor girl's belongings and chucked them out of the window, breathing heavily before commanding her to get out.

 

Sooyoung had no choice but to leave, since she knew that her life would be in more danger if she had decided to stay, but now she took all that she could and ran as quickly as she could to her school, finding an abandoned and empty classroom that no one has used in years, and calling it her home.

 

The school had decent wifi, so she could update her friends about her status, but one of her friends hadn't replied in days, Jeon Heejin, and it was concerning her.

 

She knew that the younger girl was mainly focused on work, but would always find the time to text her back, and Sooyoung couldn't help but have the gut feeling that something had happened and maybe even something bad. 

 

Sooyoung decided to ask around at first, mostly asking teachers since majority of the students either didn't pay attention or care about her. Although, Sooyoung did hear that the last place she went to was the storage room with some other girl, but there were so many in the school campus, so Sooyoung went to her last resort.

 

Sooyoung scavenged through the crowd of students before finding the one girl that a bystander had talked about. The girl who was dared into locking Jeon Heejin into the storage room where she was never seen again.

 

Once Sooyoung got closer to the girl, she tapped her on the shoulder a few times before the latter turned around with a surprised look on her face which then morphs to fear.

 

"O-oh, uh, Sooyoung. What is it?" The girl stuttered before Sooyoung grabbed her by the wrist harshly, pulling her into a more secluded area, not minding the whispers that were going around.

 

After pulling the girl to an unused classroom, she let go of the girls wrist harshly, forcing her to hit her back against the wall.

 

"Which one was it." Sooyoung asked, her voice matching the cold look on her face which sent chills down the girl's spine.

 

"I-I'm not sure w-what you mean." The girl stuttered again, but squeaked when Sooyoung punched the wall next to her loudly.

 

"Which. Room. Did. You. Lock. Heejin. In." Sooyoung demanded through her teeth, causing the other girl to flinch back, tears rolling down her cheeks, but Sooyoung felt no remorse.

 

"T-the storage room. N-near Mr. Flint's classroom. T-the English teacher, room 12." The girl hastily spilled out, her face covered with her hands as she shook in fear. It was nothing new to Sooyoung.

 

Sooyoung expression quickly changed to a sarcastic smile before insincerely showing her gratitude. The girl was still shaking in the unused classroom before Sooyoung went out of the door and a loud click could be heard from the inside. 

 

The girl lifted her head up, and through the window on the door she could see Sooyoung dangling a pair of keys, taunting her before the latter mouthed a threat to her.

 

'Never mess with my friends.'

 

* * *

 

초라한 내 모습 그때 겨우*

 

* * *

 

Sooyoung had a bad reputation in school. She never really had any friends except for Heejin, which was why she was so protective of her. Sooyoung was basically a delinquent. Getting suspended at least once every two weeks and getting detention at least once a week. She thought this game was fun, and it was her way of coping with her depression.

 

She always got looks and whispers whenever she was at school, but she always ignored them and glared back at them, causing people to be scared of her.

 

All except Heejin.

 

Heejin could tell that there was good in her, and the younger girl let her confide in her problems. She was the only girl that she trusted with her secrets, her anxiety, her depression and her sexuality, although they were nothing more than friends. 

 

* * *

 

Sooyoung sprinted to the storage room which the girl described, paying no attention to the bell that was ringing loudly and all the students rushing to their classrooms. She wormed and shoved her way past all the students before getting to the storage room door. By the time she got there, the halls were all empty and she was the only one standing there.

 

She went into the storage room, letting the door slowly shut itself as she looked around.

 

She saw a console on the ground, the screen still bright and shining meaning that someone must have recently played on it.

 

It was a small, carrier sized game console with a game controller already attached to it and for some reason, Sooyoung suddenly felt the need to play on it. 

 

The screen was already on the main menu of the game which was labelled 'LOOΠΔVERSE' and Sooyoung gently sat down and picked up the controller. 

 

Sooyoung wasn't totally new to video games, but she also never really had the money to properly play one so it took a minute for her to understand the controls.

 

She pressed start on the console and a screen popped up, asking her to fill out her personal information which included, name, age and birthday, which Sooyoung filled in without a thought.

 

After the screen loaded a little, 6 icons popped up and she was asked to 'choose a story'.

 

Sooyoung raised an eyebrow as she scrolled through each of the icons.

 

There were 6 different icons, each a different color and a different animal.

 

The first icon being a yellow cat.

[ ](https://cdn.clipart.email/d36a021ae29401660e0c57473b7057fe_cat-silhouette-free-vector-silhouettes_566-800.svg)

 

The second icon being a pastel pink deer.

[ ](https://rlv.zcache.com/light_pink_deer_head_silhouette_tote_bag-r17cb7fb77e8d40629db66b8b1d654886_v9w6h_8byvr_307.jpg?rvtype=content)

The third icon being a blue fish of some sort (Heejin doesn't know that many fish ok).

[ ](http://www.supercoloring.com/sites/default/files/silhouettes/2015/07/betta-fish-dodger-blue-silhouette.svg)

 

The fourth icon being a purple bat.

[ ](http://www.supercoloring.com/sites/default/files/silhouettes/2015/05/bat-medium-slate-blue-silhouette.svg)

 

The fifth icon being a peach colored penguin.

[ ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/53/d9/79/53d97962ce7758872de994bdd48b88d4.jpg)

And the last icon being a green butterfly.

[ ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcTEY4E6OKgBukC5BLfuriAfsI4zNOfaWKbFtefJrj-gCOhYrqx6)

 

Sooyoung shrugged, not knowing what to expect, she selected the first one, but a message popped up saying 'Someone is already playing this story'.

 

"Oh so I don't really  _have_  a choice." Sooyoung grumbled out as she looked through all of the options again, the penguin being the one that caught her eye the most.

 

She selected the peach penguins and a message popped up on her screen.

 

'Are you sure you want to choose this story?'

 

And Sooyoung pressed confirm.

 

There was a slight pause as Sooyoung was sitting there, waiting for something to happen.

 

Right when she was about to speak up, a blinding peach colored light cause her to flinch and block the light with her hands before feeling herself sink through the floor and fall through. 

 

* * *

 

다가갈 수 없을 듯 눈부셔*

 

* * *

 

Sooyoung tried to open her eyes to see what was actually going on but all she could see was white and it hurt her eyes too much so she closed them again, letting out a scream as she fell on her back onto the snow.

 

 _Wait...snow??_ Sooyoung groaned before immediately looking around, and everything that she could see was indeed snow. 

 

it was blizzarding pretty hard and her outfit was not at all close to winter attire, and she could already feel the frostbite kicking in. She tried to get up, but her body was shivering so badly that she was unable to move.

 

She was just laying there in the snow, her eyes threatening to close as they fluttered.

 

* * *

 

차가운 새벽녘 공기 속에*

 

* * *

 

She heard a voice and as her eyes fluttered, she saw the blurry image of a girl in a large fur coat who was shaking her shoulder, but Sooyoung was slowly losing her consciousness.

 

She felt someone pick her up, laying her torso against her shoulder, but the body felt small and petite.

 

* * *

 

비로소야 뛰는 심장*

 

* * *

 

 _'_ _I will take care of you'_ was the last thing she heard before fully blacking out.

 

 

A/N:  
Translations:

My miserable appearances*

So bright that i couldn’t dare to approach*

In the cold breeze of early morning*

Pulsating heart*  
  
A/N:  
HI SORRY FOR THE LONG HIATUS, I DIDNT HAVE TIME OVER THE SUMMER CAUSE OF VACATION AND HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND MOTIVATION TO CONTINUE MY STORIES SINCE IM ALSO DOING ART. FOLLOW MY TWITTER FOR MORE INFO @barkhyunjin69

 


	15. Chapter 15

Sooyoung was used to darkness.

 

Whether it be within herself, within others, or just around her.

 

She knew darkness like the back of her hand, but even so it still scared her.

 

It's said that humans are most scared of the unknown, but for Sooyoung, she was scared of what she knew best. Herself and her darkness.

 

All she could see was darkness, her body numb as the last memory she could recover was the painful cold of the snow, which enveloped her entire body before she could make sense of anything else. 

 

The darkness was still there, but the cold was slowly going away and she started to feel her body again. 

 

A soft voice rings in her ears and suddenly, she found herself not being scared again. Reminding her of her childhood, of that innocence she lost at an early age. Reminding her of the carelessness and ignorance that she was no longer.

 

" _Hey. It's all gonna be alright. You're safe with me. I won't let anything happen to you."_ The voice sung out so beautifully and slowly Sooyoung felt light in the darkness before slowly blinking her eyes open.

 

The first thing she's met with are the round doe eyes ,filled with a sense of curiosity, of a cute and childlike girl. Although, this girl was a stranger, Sooyoung felt no hostility from or torwards the girl, and instead, studied her surroundings carefully, taking in every bit of detail.

 

She was covered in a wool blanket, her previous clothes replaced with thicker and heftier clothes (which she refuses to think about the fact that the girl might have undressed her), she was laid near a fireplace which was crackling alongside the soft whispers of the air. The house that she was in, was all made of wood, which led her to believe that this was a handmade house, perhaps a village with other people.

 

She looked back at the girl again who smiled brightly and genuinely, not caring that she was tending to a stranger in her living room. The girl's eyes studied her carefully, knowingly waiting for Sooyoung to speak first since she did almost die of hypothermia.

 

Sooyoung felt a stinging on the side of her head again, causing her to hiss in pain and hold her palm against it, before feeling the other girl's soft hand place on top of hers carefully.

 

"Are you ok?" The girl asked with a soft and calculated voice, obviously holding back volume, and a gentle smile which somehow brought a smile to Sooyoung's face, despite the pain.

 

"I'm fine, head hurts a little. Where am I? And who are you?" Sooyoung asks eagerly, wanting to know the answers.

 

"Do you want some tea? You're in our village called Nede and I'm Kim Jiwoo, you are..?" Jiwoo's eyes looked at Sooyoung expectantly and the latter took a few seconds to snap out of her daze.

 

"Tea would be great. I'm Ha Sooyoung, nice to meet you, and thank you so much for saving me back there." Sooyoung expressed her gratitude awkwardly, her hand scratching the back of her head before smiling softly at the shorter girl who went to get tea.

 

Sooyoung took some time to look around the house before the girl came back with her tea.

 

"Um so..Sooyoung. Back when I found you, out in the blizzard.. why weren't you wearing thicker clothing? If you were coming here intentionally, then you should have known about the village's curse." Jiwoo asked, curiously sipping on her own tea while checking out the taller girl who was lost in thought.

 

"Um a curse? And I didn't come here intentionally, some ..... stuff happened." Sooyoung hesitated, not knowing whether she should tell the girl about how she got here or if she would even believe her. But something about the way the girl looked at her, like she was trying to study every nook and habit of hers, like she was interested and genuine, made her want to spill every hardship she's ever had to her.

 

"Why don't you drink some of your tea first and explain to me what happened? Then I'll tell you about our village's curse. It's a pretty long story." Jiwoo encouraged Sooyoung softly who sighed in compliance.

 

_It'll be her fault if she doesn't believe me I guess._

 

"It might not seem believable, but I was transported here from a different world. Uhh I was stuck in a storage room in my school and somehow ended up here, so that's why I wasn't wearing the proper clothes." Sooyoung explained briefly, thinking that the fact that she came through a video game would give the smaller girl an existential crisis.

 

When Sooyoung examined Jiwoo's face, looking at her reaction to her story, she saw shock and there were no signs of disbelief, which Sooyoung can't tell whether that's a good thing or that she's incredibly gullible.

 

Jiwoo launched herself forward a little, clasping both of Sooyoung's hands in a fist shape, causing the taller girl to flinch and yelp in surprise. Sooyoung looked at Jiwoo weirdly, waiting for an explanation.

 

"You have to be! This can't be a coincidence!!" Jiwoo starts talking to herself in a loud whisper while Sooyoung sits there in confusion.

 

"I have to be what?" Sooyoung asks carefully before Jiwoo realizes she got too close to Sooyoung and leans back, clearing her throat in embarrassment, a blush on her cheeks which wasn't caused by the warmth of the fire.

 

"The curse. Our village's curse. We call it 'The Curse of Eden'." Jiwoo continues, going more in depth into the story.

 

* * *

 

_There was a happy couple who lived in the village, both who were bakers. They were trying for a child, but no matter what they did, nothing came._

 

_There were rumors around the village that there was a witch in the abandoned corner of the village who would grant people's wishes._

 

_But of course, all wishes come with a price._

 

_The couple went to the witch and pleaded to have a child and the witch accepted after some consideration._

 

_Her price was that they had to steal an enchanted apple from the golden tree near the sorcerer's temple, and if they were caught, there would be consequences._

 

_The next night they break into the sorcerer's garden and take the apples from the tree, not knowing that the sorcerer's familiar, a crow was watching them from afar._

 

_As the couple were escaping from the garden, the sorcerer appeared in front of them, stopping them in their tracks._

 

_Before they could explain anything, the sorcerer's voice boomed._

 

_'You took what is mine, so now I will take what is yours. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life. You and your village will be cursed with eternal Winter to make up for the fruit you've stolen from me, and I curse you two to become beasts. May an outsider with the mark of the twins break your punishment'_

 

* * *

 

"And that's how our village is in this eternal blizzard with two yetis who sometimes comes and kills us." Jiwoo finished, Sooyoung's eyes widen, looking at the smaller girl in shock.

 

 _This was not what I expected_ , Sooyoung thought to herself.

 

"And what about me?" Sooyoung asks carefully, already having a thought in her mind, but wanted to make sure.

 

Jiwoo sucked in a breath and looked at the taller girl seriously.

 

"We think you're the key to breaking the curse." 

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse my mistranslations, I'm using Google translate for everything lol. And as you can tell this is a heavily plotted story which I hope you can all enjoy!


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